Reuters, Washington :
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is expected to press for greater cooperation to contain North Korea’s nuclear and missile threat at a regional security forum in Singapore later this week, where for years Washington has sought to spotlight China’s expansion in the strategic South China Sea.
President Donald Trump has actively courted Chinese support on North Korea and abandoned an Asia-Pacific trade pact soon after taking office in January. That has raised concerns among Southeast Asian allies in the lead up to the annual Shangri-la dialogue starting on Friday that Washington might allow China a freer rein elsewhere in the region.
A U.S. Navy challenge to China’s South China Sea claims last week may have allayed some of the concerns over broader American engagement. But Asian officials and diplomats are still hoping for a clearer articulation of Trump’s policy when Mattis speaks in Singapore on Saturday.
Abraham Denmark, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, said that while Mattis’ focus would have to be on North Korea, perhaps Trump’s most pressing security worry, it was important for him to lay out a broader policy to ease worries.
“The region will pay very close attention … and the goal for Secretary Mattis should be to clearly enunciate the policy of the United States towards the Asia-Pacific,” he said.
U.S. focus on North Korea has been sharpened by dozens of North Korean missile launches – the most recent of which was on Monday – and two nuclear bomb tests since the beginning of last year and by Pyongyang’s vow to develop a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting the U.S. mainland.
U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that in Singapore Mattis would likely stress the threat posed by North Korea and the importance of Asia-Pacific countries working together to counter its weapons programs as the United States negotiates with China and others to toughen sanctions on Pyongyang.
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is expected to press for greater cooperation to contain North Korea’s nuclear and missile threat at a regional security forum in Singapore later this week, where for years Washington has sought to spotlight China’s expansion in the strategic South China Sea.
President Donald Trump has actively courted Chinese support on North Korea and abandoned an Asia-Pacific trade pact soon after taking office in January. That has raised concerns among Southeast Asian allies in the lead up to the annual Shangri-la dialogue starting on Friday that Washington might allow China a freer rein elsewhere in the region.
A U.S. Navy challenge to China’s South China Sea claims last week may have allayed some of the concerns over broader American engagement. But Asian officials and diplomats are still hoping for a clearer articulation of Trump’s policy when Mattis speaks in Singapore on Saturday.
Abraham Denmark, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, said that while Mattis’ focus would have to be on North Korea, perhaps Trump’s most pressing security worry, it was important for him to lay out a broader policy to ease worries.
“The region will pay very close attention … and the goal for Secretary Mattis should be to clearly enunciate the policy of the United States towards the Asia-Pacific,” he said.
U.S. focus on North Korea has been sharpened by dozens of North Korean missile launches – the most recent of which was on Monday – and two nuclear bomb tests since the beginning of last year and by Pyongyang’s vow to develop a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting the U.S. mainland.
U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that in Singapore Mattis would likely stress the threat posed by North Korea and the importance of Asia-Pacific countries working together to counter its weapons programs as the United States negotiates with China and others to toughen sanctions on Pyongyang.
