Pompeo to visit Bangkok, commit to Southeast Asia: official

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will recommit the United States on a visit to Bangkok to supporting the development of Southeast Asian nations in the face of a rising China, an official said Thursday.

Pompeo will travel to the Thai capital for the July 29-August 3 ministerial meeting of the ASEAN bloc and will lead talks on the Lower Mekong Initiative, said Mark Clark, a US official in charge of the region.

The initiative was launched 10 years ago by then secretary of state Hillary Clinton as a way to promote coordination and economic growth in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam — several of which have increasingly close ties with China.

“When ministers and our secretary meet in Bangkok in early August, we will highlight what we have achieved over the past decade and recommit to our joint efforts supporting the people of the Mekong,” Clark told a conference on the Mekong River region at the Meridian International Center in Washington.