US: China tensions bad for Asia business

By: 10 years ago

President Benigno S. Aquino III welcomes a high-level business delegation from the United States led by Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker (2nd from right) during a courtesy call in Malacanan on Wednesday. Also in photo U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg (3rd from right). Secretary Pritzker who arrived in Manila on Monday, with and a delegation of senior American corporate executives will join the US-ASEAN Business Council in meetings with Philippine officials and business leaders as part of Washington芒聙聶s efforts to strengthen partnerships with long-established trading partners like the Philippines. GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE/蜜桃工作室

MANILA, Philippines 鈥� A senior US official said Wednesday that Washington wants to expand its economic ties with Asia, the world鈥檚 fastest growing region, but warned that China鈥檚 provocative conduct in the South China Sea raises tensions that are bad for business.

US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker told American and Filipino business groups that the United States has overinvested its diplomatic, economic and strategic resources in other parts of the world. She said it was committed to policies 鈥渢o correct the imbalance and to deepen US engagement鈥� with Asia.

Pritzker鈥檚 swing through Vietnam, the Philippines and Myanmar is mainly focused on the economic elements of President Barack Obama鈥檚 policy of refocusing US foreign policy on Asia. At the same time, Obama has been in Europe reassuring US allies about its security commitments to the region after Russia鈥檚 annexation of Ukraine鈥檚 Crimean Peninsula raised tensions.

Asia and the Pacific are expected to be home to 54 percent of the world鈥檚 middle class by 2022 and will import nearly $10 trillion worth of goods and services by then, more than double the level today, Pritzker said. Through 2020, more than $1 trillion of infrastructure investment is needed in the 10-member countries of Association of Southeast Asian Nations to meet the demands of a growing population.

She told reporters that American companies are optimistic about the region. But China鈥檚 deployment last month of an oil rig accompanied by government vessels in South China Sea waters also claimed by Vietnam and its incursions into areas claimed by the Philippines 鈥渁re provocative and they raise tensions.鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檙e very concerned about that,鈥� she said. 鈥淎ctions like these create uncertainty, which is not good for the business environment.鈥�

China, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan have overlapping claims across the South China Sea, one the world鈥檚 busiest shipping lanes. Beijing says it has sovereignty over virtually all of the resource-rich waters since ancient times.

Pritzker said the United States has a national interest in maintaining peace, unimpeded lawful commerce, freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea. It supports diplomatic and legal means to resolve the dispute, including the Philippines鈥� decision to seek arbitration from an international tribunal in The Hague.