US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has pledged to provide nearly $US300 million in new security funding for Southeast Asia, as China forges ahead with plans to bolster its engagement in the region.
Pompeo unveiled the figure to reporters on the sidelines of a Singapore meeting of foreign ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other officials.
The new security assistance will strengthen maritime security, develop humanitarian assistance, peacekeeping capabilities and counter "transnational threats", he said.
The US said earlier this week it would invest $US113 million in technology, energy and infrastructure initiatives in emerging Asia, which he called "a downpayment on a new era of US economic commitment to the region".
The US' developing vision for a "free and open Indo-Pacific" comes at the same time as China ramps up its influence as part of is Belt and Road plan to bolster trade ties with nations in Southeast Asia and beyond.
Analysts have said that a spiralling trade dispute between Beijing and Washington could also ratchet up tensions over other regional hotspot issues, such as the South China Sea, claimed in whole by China and in part by some Southeast Asian nations.
China and the ASEAN bloc on Thursday hailed a "milestone" agreement on a single working text to kick off what will likely be protracted negotiations towards a code of conduct for behaviour the disputed waters.
But critics have said that this enthusiasm for talks is a means for China to buy time and solidify its position during a period of relative dominance in the region.
Pompeo told reporters that he had raised concerns at the meeting about Chinese militarisation of the South China Sea and the importance of maintaining a rules-based order in the region.
The use of "Indo-Pacific" has grown among diplomats from Japan, Australia, India and the US in recent years, a shorthand for a democratic-led region, as opposed to an "Asia-Pacific" with China at its centre.
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