Rice's absence from Asean forum puts regional influence in question

Rice's absence from Asean forum puts regional influence in question
By John Burton and Roel Landingin in Manila
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: August 1 2007 03:00 | Last updated: August 1 2007 03:00


Condoleezza Rice's absence this week from Asia's biggest security meeting has raised questions over whether Washington's preoccupation with the Middle East is causing it to lose influence in the region to China, write John Burton and Roel Landingin in Manila.

Ms Rice decided to skip the Association of South-East Asian Nations' regional forum in Manila, which begins tomorrow, to visit Egypt and Saudi Arabia in an effort to find ways to stabilise the situation in Iraq.

The US will be represented at the Asian Regional Forum (ARF) by John Negroponte, Ms Rice's deputy. But her absence means that she will have missed two of three forums held since she became secretary of state.

The ARF was founded by Asean in 1994 and has grown to include 27 members at its annual meeting, including theUS, China, Russia andthe European Union.

China is forging closer economic ties with Asean, with the goal of establishing a trade pact with the region by 2010. In contrast, the US recently said it was premature to discuss a US-Asean trade deal.