US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting Thailand as the Biden administration moves to show its commitment to south-east Asia in the face of a relentless push for influence in the region from China.
Mr Blinken is meeting with senior Thai officials and democracy activists from neighbouring Myanmar in Bangkok, and has signed an agreement with Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai expanding the US-Thailand “Strategic Alliance and Partnership”.
He travelled to Thailand after attending an international conference in Bali, Indonesia, where he also raised concerns about China’s increasing assertiveness in talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Like its predecessors, the Biden administration has watched China’s rapid growth warily and sought to hold it to international standards without significant success.
Mr Blinken said on Saturday that China’s support for Russia in its war in Ukraine poses a threat to the rules-based order and complicates already tense relations between Washington and Beijing.
But China’s aggressive push into its south-east Asian neighbours and maintaining a robust regional US presence are at the top of Mr Blinken’s agenda in Thailand, according to American officials.
They also say Mr Blinken will offer support and encouragement to Myanmar dissidents who have been forced to flee the country since the military seized power from the elected government on February 1, 2021.
The US and like-minded democracies are trying to discourage developing south-east Asian countries from entering large-scale infrastructure and development projects with China unless they are proven economically feasible, structurally sound and environmentally safe.
Speaking in Bali, Mr Blinken said: “What we’re about is not asking countries to choose but giving them a choice when it comes to things like investment and infrastructure, development assistance.
“There is on one level plenty of room for everyone to do that because the needs are immense. But what we want to make sure is that we’re engaged in a race to the top – that is, we do things to the highest standards – not a race to the bottom where we do things to the lowest standards.”
US officials from multiple administrations have criticised China for exploiting smaller nations by luring them into unfair or deceptive agreements.
“My hope would be that if, as China continues to engage itself in all of these efforts that it engages in a race to the top, that it raise its game,” Mr Blinken said. “That would actually benefit everyone.”
Meanwhile, US State Department officials have said Mr Blinken will pay a brief visit to Japan on Monday to offer condolences following the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe.
