John Kerry outlines US-Asia pivot priorities in major policy address

United States Secretary of State John Kerry pledged stronger engagement with Asia in a major policy speech in Hawaii on Thursday.

“We are in this in the long haul,” Kerry said, outlining the priorities of President Barack Obama’s administration in the Asia Pacific region over its remaining two-and-a half years in office. The US would continue to pursue its interests and values in the region “without arrogance but also without apology”.

Kerry outlined four priorities in the Obama administration’s “pivot to Asia” strategy: economic growth, energy, regional cooperation and human rights.

Recalling his family’s own history as traders in China, Kerry made a plea to the countries in the region to carry forward the negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade agreement. “We can’t take growth for granted,” he told an audience of local dignitaries in Hawaii. “We must get this done.”

Kerry also warned of growing regional competition with China, the world’s second-largest economy. “The president has been clear, as have I, that we are committed to avoiding the trap of strategic rivalry [with China],” he said. “We are busy trying to define a new great power relationship.”

“This constructive relationship, this new model relationship of great powers, is not going to happen by simply talking about it,” he said.