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.