US Official Reassures Asia of Commitment, Calls for Greater Burden Sharing
Undersecretary of War Elbridge Colby told an audience in Manila that U.S. interests are "more engaged than ever in the Indo-Pacific."
In a speech in Manila, Undersecretary of War Elbridge Colby reassured Asia of the United States' commitment to the region while emphasizing the need for greater burden sharing for defense. Colby, on his first stop of a Southeast Asian tour, sought to counter concerns about the reliability of U.S. foreign policy under the Trump administration.
He stated that U.S. interests were "more engaged than ever in the Indo-Pacific" and that the Department of War was concentrating on defending those interests. Colby described the U.S. military commitment in the region as "a formidable, resource-backed posture calibrated to actual structural realities," contrasting it with the "hollow, merely symbolic engagement of previous decades."
However, he stressed that Washington could not manage this alone and that local partners needed to shoulder more of the burden for their defense. Colby's tour aims to deliver a message that America's interests in the Indo-Pacific are robust and that the Department of War is prioritizing defense. While not explicitly mentioning China, his deterrence-focused message is likely to resonate with Southeast Asian nations facing China's growing military power.
Written by urgent.news from The Diplomat's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
