WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will meet with the foreign ministers of South-east Asian countries on May 4 in Washington ahead of planned regional summits in November, a State Department official said on Thursday (April 20).

The foreign ministers of the 10-member Association of South-east Asian Nations requested the meeting with Tillerson in an effort to engage with the new US administration, said Patrick Murphy, the US deputy assistant secretary of state for south-east Asia.

Tillerson and the ministers are likely to discuss trade, territorial claims in the South China Sea, trafficking, crime and other issues.