BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, July 1 (Xinhua) -- The United States Secretary of State John Kerry sought to assure its allies in the Asia Pacific that there is "no policy shift" in U.S. diplomatic strategy.
"I don't know what you are talking about. There is no policy shift. I am here," he said in response to a question at a press conference after a U.S.-ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting in Brunei on Monday.
The U.S. top diplomat said that having a new secretary of state in the Obama administration will not mean that there is any change in U.S. policies towards Asia.
He insisted that the fact that the United States might be in one place does not detract from the fact that it has representatives at various levels advancing its interests and those of its allies in the region.
"One thing I can assure you is that the United States of America operates globally," he said. "I believe that the United States must continue to engage in our global responsibilities even as we engage in regional initiatives. And that's precisely what I am doing in being here today."
He also defended the U.S. strategy of rebalancing towards Asia, even though it has led to stressed relations in the region and stress on the military over how to deploy its resources.
"I want you to be absolutely confident that ... the rebalance should not come at the expense of some other nation or interest," he said. "It comes in addition to it."
He did not go into details at the press conference on how the U. S. might be able to cover the whole world without putting stress on its resources.
Kerry arrived in Brunei on Monday for the ASEAN and related foreign ministers' meetings. It is the last stop on his two-week tour of seven countries in Asia and the Middle East.
His schedules at the three-day meetings include the multilateral meetings as well as bilateral meetings with his counterparts from countries including Russia and China.
While trying to assure U.S. allies in the region that there has been "no policy shift" in U.S. foreign affairs, Kerry said he and his Chinese counterparts Wang Yi mainly dwelled on "the bigger issues" such as the bilateral relationship and the global economic challenges in their bilateral discussion earlier.
He said that it is important to advance cooperation and that he will put forward proposals to advance tangible cooperations.
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