Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington and Raphael Minder in Singapore
FT Syndication Service
Robert Gates, US defence secretary, on Saturday warned that coercive diplomacy over energy resources in Asia could threaten the security and prosperity of the region.
Speaking to Asian defence and security officials in Singapore, Mr Gates stressed that the "foundation of prosperity" in the region had been built on "international norms" that needed to be preserved.
Mr Gates stressed that the US was still very much engaged in Asia despite concerns in the region that its attention had been diverted by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Any speculation in the region about the United States losing interest in Asia strikes me as either prosperous, or disingenuous, or both," said Mr Gates.
While some Asian countries have worried about waning US interest in the region, Mr Gates, in a veiled criticism of China, raised concerns about tension within Asia over energy resources.
"In my Asian travels, I hear my hosts worry about the security implications of rising demand for resources, and about coercive diplomacy and other pressures that can lead to disruptive competitions," said Mr Gates.
"We should not forget that globalisation has permitted our share rise in wealth over recent decades."
Mr Gates also told the audience - attending the forum sponsored by the Institute of International and Strategic Studies - that it was important not to forget that prosperity in the region had depended on "international norms and a common responsibility to protect common resources even while pursuing individual agendas".
"Asia's most determined advocates of sovereign prerogative have benefited most from adherence to common norms," he added.
In another cloaked reference to Chinese activities in the South Chinese Sea, Mr Gates said the US had welcomed efforts in the 1990s to create a "code of conduct" between states that had competing claims for territory and resources in the area. He said US policy was not to favour one country over another, adding that it was important to maintain a "calm and non-assertive environment".
In reassuring the defence officials that the US intended to maintain a "resident power" in Asia, Mr Gates pointed to the move to shift US marines from Japan to Guam, where new facilities are being based.
Mr Gates also raised concern about moves within Asia to create new security frameworks that might exclude parts of the region, including the US. Washington in particular has not welcomed the creation of the so-called "East Asia Summit", a grouping of the Asean countries, in addition to China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand, but not the US.
"The United States notes the stirrings of a new regionalism, a pan-Asian search for new frameworks to encompass and thereby moderate inter-state competition," said Mr Gates.
The defence secretary said the US welcomed efforts to search for a "new security architecture" but only if it was not treated as a "zero-sum game".
