US Secretary of Stake Mike Pompeo

 In a press release following an online meeting with ASEAN Foreign Ministers, Mr Pompeo said the United States remains committed to sustaining its long-term investments in economic technical assistance and human capacity development through bilateral USAID programs in the ASEAN member states of Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. The press release reminded countries of the long-term threats to shared security which have not disappeared but become more prominent. It said China is exerting military pressure and coercing its neighbors in the East Sea, even going so far as to sink a Vietnamese fishing vessel. The US strongly opposes China’s bullying and hopes other nations will hold them to account too. The US commits to continue to build for the future based upon the shared principles– ASEAN centrality, openness, transparency, a rules-based framework, good governance, and respect for sovereignty.