U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Asia on Saturday to reaffirm ties with strategic allies, following his attendance at a highly anticipated White House meeting between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The secretary will now depart tomorrow for Asia, instead of tonight, as we had originally planned, so he can attend the meeting between the president and Prime Minister Netanyahu tomorrow here in Washington,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters during Wednesday's briefing.
Washington said it is committed to allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region, despite the Middle East crisis.
"This is the secretary's 18th trip to the region," Miller added. "He will still travel to Laos, to Vietnam, to Japan, to Singapore, to the Philippines and to Mongolia."
Blinken will hold talks with senior officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Vientiane, Laos, before traveling to Hanoi, Vietnam. Although a schedule change will prevent him from attending the funeral of General Secretary Nguyen Phú Trong, the head of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party, he will still visit Vietnam to pay his respects and meet with senior officials.
In Tokyo and Manila, Blinken will join Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for 2+2 security talks with their counterparts.
Blinken will also travel to Singapore and Mongolia to hold talks with senior officials there.
