WASHINGTON ¨C The United States has downgraded its participation in back-to-back Asia-Pacific summits in Bangkok next week, a move bound to disappoint Asian partners worried by China¡¯s expanding influence.
Although President Donald Trump will attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Chile in mid-November, the White House said the most senior U.S. official in Bangkok for the East Asian Summit and U.S.-ASEAN summit will be Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. He will lead the U.S. delegation to the Indo-Pacific Business Forum, grouping government officials and business executives, on the sidelines of the EAS.
Trump has named White House national security adviser Robert O¡¯Brien as his special envoy to the summits, the White House said.
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