US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is committed to an active role in the region as he virtually meets South-east Asian ministers every day this week, said senior US officials on Monday.
He is expected to announce measures to support Asean's economic recovery and fight against Covid-19, including expansions of programmes and partnerships the United States already has with Asean, two State Department officials told reporters.
Washington has stepped up its engagement with South-east Asia after a slow start which had prompted concerns that the US was not doing enough to counter China in the region.
Mr Blinken, America's top diplomat, first met Asean foreign ministers virtually last month.
This was followed by Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin's trip to the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam last week. Vice-President Kamala Harris has announced a trip to the region as well later this month.
"Recent US government high-level engagement in the region is a testament to how important the Indo-Pacific is to us and underscores how much we prioritise our efforts in the region," said one official.
Mr Blinken will co-chair the US-Asean ministerial meeting and take part in the East Asia Summit and Asean Regional Forum meetings, which involve other dialogue partners, including China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, Russia and New Zealand.
He co-hosted the second Mekong-US Partnership ministerial meeting on Monday, unveiled the partnership's four flagship projects, as well as noted the 4.5 million vaccine doses and over US$80 million (S$108 million) in US Covid-19 assistance.
The meeting involved countries in the Lower Mekong region - Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand - and other partners such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, as well as New Zealand, Japan and Australia.
Mr Blinken also urged the countries to take immediate action to hold the Myanmar regime accountable to the Asean five-point consensus on the Myanmar crisis.
"These upcoming Asean meetings and Secretary Blinken's attendance for five consecutive days illustrate how focused he is on playing an active role in the region," said the official.
He said Mr Blinken will reaffirm America's commitment to Asean centrality and address pressing issues facing the region, including access to Covid-19 vaccines, economic recovery, the climate crisis, and China's actions in the South China Sea.
The US has so far donated more than 20 million vaccine doses to South-east Asia, with an eye to countering China's vaccine diplomacy.
America's strategic competition with China will loom large throughout the talks, with Mr Blinken expected to call for more vaccine transparency from China.
At the same time, the US is "very attuned to" Asean's desire to not have to choose between the US and China, said the official.
"We want to engage Asean for Asean's sake," he said. "We've never asked any country to choose between the US and China. We fully recognise that these countries have to have good relations with China.
"We want to present the countries of South-east Asia with options, and to show them that we're acting in good faith and as a good, trustworthy partner that they can depend on."
On Monday, the White House also sent President Joe Biden's nomination of Internet philanthropist Jonathan Kaplan as ambassador to Singapore to the Senate. The move is a crucial next step to filling the ambassadorship, which has been vacant since 2017.
