Rumsfeld to tell Asian nations: don't leave US out
Fri Jun 2, 2006 05:44 AM ET
By Paul Eckert, Asia Correspondent

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will urge Asian nations at a security meeting in Singapore to resist attempts to exclude the United States from regional groupings.

As the U.S. defense chief arrived in the city-state on Friday for the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, an aide said Rumsfeld would laud the inclusiveness of the forum in a region that has seen moves over the past year to leave Washington out in the cold.

"There are some efforts and systems that leave us out, and we obviously favor institutions that are inclusive rather than exclusive," said a senior Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Washington was uncomfortable with moves last year that pointedly excluded the Americans, including the holding of an East Asia Summit of leaders from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations along with China, Japan and South Korea.

"We were a little bit nervous, but a lot of other countries were nervous about it, as well -- friends of ours," the official said of the December summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

But he added: "The event came and went without doing great harm."

U.S. hackles were also raised when the China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which also includes Russia and Central Asian states, lobbied to push U.S. forces out of Afghanistan and Central Asia.

"The Russians and Chinese seem to be putting pressure on these guys, and that's something we're concerned about," he said, referring to Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian states where the U.S. military has bases or access to facilities.