US says ‘extremely engaged’ in Asia after Trump skips ASEAN meet

Bangkok, Nov 4 (AFP/APP): US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross insisted Monday that his country remained “extremely engaged” with Asia despite Donald Trump skipping a regional leaders summit.

Ross and US national security advisor Robert O’Brien are the most senior members of the Washington delegation in Bangkok for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting, also attended by Indian, South Korean and Japanese leaders.

Previous meetings have been attended by the president or vice president.

Trump is accused of retreating from the region after pulling out of a major Asia-Pacific trade pact almost immediately after taking office.

But Ross pushed back against criticism that America has turned its back on Asian allies.

“The Trump administration is extremely engaged in and fully committed to this region,” he said at a business forum on the sidelines of the ASEAN meeting Monday.

Footage shows Bangkok bombing in mall minutes from ASEAN summit

“We continue to negotiate trade deals with countries in this region.”

At the US-ASEAN meeting later in the day, O’Brien addressed several Southeast Asian foreign ministers after some leaders failed to turn up.

Only the leaders of Thailand, Vietnam and Laos were in attendance, a departure from earlier ASEAN meetings over the weekend that heads-of-state were present for.