US Defence Secretary Mark Esper starts second Indo-Pacific tour with bid to counter Chinese power
- Pentagon says Esper will discuss Beijing’s South China Sea claims on visit to South Korea, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam
- Statement giving details of trip calls Indo-Pacific region the Pentagon’s ‘priority theatre’
It is his second trip to the region after taking charge at the Pentagon in August.
The tour started with a visit to South Korea on Thursday, and will include stops in two other treaty ally nations – Thailand and the Philippines – as well as Vietnam, which is growing increasingly close to the US.
The Pentagon said Esper would listen to those nations’ concerns and reaffirm the US commitment to partnerships because “nowhere is that more important than in the Indo-Pacific region”, the statement said, calling the area the US military’s “priority theatre”.
The visit follows last week’s East Asian Summit in Bangkok, where US President Donald Trump disappointed some regional allies by sending as his representatives to the event the lowest-ranking American officials – national security adviser Robert O’Brien and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross – since America formally joined the parley in 2011.