Singapore, Dec. 4 -- The top US diplomat for East Asia has said that Washington will not force countries in Asia to choose between the United States and China, but suggested that Beijing might not afford its neighbours that same choice.
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell on Monday outlined Washington's view of how the US and Chinese visions of the global order today are at odds with each other, boiling it down to one key difference: their attitudes towards pluralism.
The US supports a pluralistic Asia, in which the region's diverse countries can continue to thrive as they wish, he said in a speech at the Brookings Institution. "They are secure in their sovereign autonomy. They are free to be t...