WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio travels to the Philippines next week to meet with his Southeast Asian counterparts, the State Department said on Friday (Jul 17), as the rekindled war with Iran places traditional American allies under economic strain.
The trip comes as the pace of strikes in the Middle East shows no signs of slowing, and just days after US President Donald Trump launched a sweeping attack Thursday on China – alleging Beijing carried out substantial meddling in US elections.
Rubio is due to attend a meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Manila from Tuesday to Thursday. He attended last year’s gathering in Kuala Lumpur.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said the trip “advances a clear US priority: a free and open Indo-Pacific that delivers safety, security, and prosperity for the region and for the American people”.
For Washington, that means seeking to counter China’s growing influence.
The State Department provided no details of his schedule, but last year Rubio met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the ASEAN gathering. The two top diplomats spoke recently by telephone following Trump’s visit to China last spring.
Iran will be on the agenda in Manila, with Asian countries – particularly those that do not produce oil – being hit hard by the conflict and its repercussions for traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
About 80 per cent of the hydrocarbons passing through the waterway are bound for Asian countries, according to the International Energy Agency.
Read the full article here
