US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (centre), Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov (third left) and South Korea's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha among other foreign ministers attend the 8th East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Singapore on Saturday. (Reuters photo) The tug of war between the United States and China to win influence over Southeast Asia was raised a notch after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pledged yesterday the US government will provide nearly $300 million in new security funding for the region.

The financial commitment came after China announced the holding of joint military drills and energy exploration with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members, excluding outside countries like the United States.

China and the ASEAN also agreed on a draft of the Code of Conduct (CoC) that will bind the parties in the South China Sea dispute during the recent ASEAN foreign ministers meeting in Singapore.

“As part of our commitment to advancing regional security in the Indo-Pacific, the United States is excited to announce nearly $300 million in new funding to reinforce security cooperation throughout the entire region,” Pompeo said.

The new security assistance will strengthen maritime security, develop humanitarian assistance, peacekeeping capabilities and counter “transnational threats,” he added.

The United States said earlier this week it would invest $113 million in technology, energy and infrastructure initiatives in emerging Asia which he called “a downpayment on a new era of US economic commitment to the region.”

The United States’ developing vision for a “free and open Indo-Pacific” comes at the same time as China ramps up its influence as part of its Belt and Road plan to bolster trade ties with nations in Southeast Asia and beyond.

Analysts have said that a spiralling trade dispute between Beijing and Washington could also ratchet up tensions over other regional hotspot issues, such as the South China Sea, claimed in whole by China and in part by some Southeast Asian nations.

China and the ASEAN bloc hailed a “milestone” agreement on a single working text to kick off what will likely be protracted negotiations towards a CoC to guide parties in the maritime dispute.

Pompeo told reporters that he had raised concerns at the meeting about Chinese militarization of the South China Sea and the importance of maintaining a rules-based order in the region.