Rubio to make first visit to Indo-Pacific region for ASEAN meeting

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Malaysia later this week to attend a meeting of Southeast Asian Nations in his first visit to the Indo-Pacific region as America's top diplomat, the State Department said in a statement.

Rubio will travel July 8-12 and will take part in meetings in Kuala Lumpur with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, whose ministers are gathering there, the State Department said.

Rubio will seek to firm up U.S. relationships with partners and allies in the region, who have been unnerved by President Donald Trump's global tariff offensive.

The trip is part of a renewed U.S. focus on the Indo-Pacific and represents an effort by the Trump administration to look beyond the conflicts in the Middle East and Europe that have so far consumed much of its attention.

Last week, Rubio hosted counterparts from Australia, India and Japan and announced a joint initiative to ensure supply of critical minerals, a vital sector for high-tech applications dominated by Washington's main strategic rival China.

Trump also announced he reached a trade agreement with important Southeast Asian partner and ASEAN member Vietnam and could reach one with India, but cast doubt on a possible deal with Japan, Washington's main Indo-Pacific ally and a major importer and investor in the United States.

Rubio has yet to visit Japan, or neighboring South Korea, the other major U.S. ally in Northeast Asia, since taking office in January, even though Washington sees the Indo-Pacific as its main strategic priority given the perceived threat posed by China.

ASEAN countries have been nervous about Trump's tariff offensive and have questioned the willingness of his "America First" administration to fully engage diplomatically and economically with the region.

"There is a hunger to be reassured that the U.S. actually views the Indo-Pacific as the primary theater of U.S. interests, key to U.S. national security," said Greg Poling, director of the Southeast Asia Program at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Other ASEAN countries may be encouraged by Vietnam's deal with Trump.

"This should smooth the way for continued pragmatic security engagement between the U.S. and Vietnam, and hopefully provide a pathway for others in Southeast Asia to get similar deals without having to give up much," Poling said.