U.S., China & Russia: Rivals for Weaponry & Investment Richard S. Ehrlich

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's recent appearance at a Southeast Asian foreign ministers' conference occurred alongside his rival Chinese and Russian counterparts, with all three trying to woo Thailand's authoritarian government which is shopping for foreign weapons and inviting business investments.

During his August 1-3 visit, Mr. Pompeo discussed with Thai and regional ministers the U.S.-China trade war, denuclearization of North Korea, disputes in the South China Sea and other concerns.

He told Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai, "to maintain the sanctions that spurred diplomacy with North Korea, to speak out against Chinese coercion in the South China Sea, to advocate for the voluntary, safe and dignified return of the Rohingya to their homeland [Myanmar], and to confront Iranian aggression."

After shaking hands with Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, Mr. Pompeo tweeted that the two men discussed "ways to advance democracy" and regional issues.

Mr. Pompeo also met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on August 1. They expressed hopes to improve U.S.-China relations and curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

Meanwhile the rivalry among the U.S., China and Russia for Thailand's weaponry, territory and diplomatic support has intensified in recent months.

"Now Mr. Pompeo has the chance to reboot Thai-U.S. ties and to take their relations to a new level," wrote columnist Kavi Chongkittavorn.

"Remember, it was the U.S. State Department's analysis that paralyzed Thai-U.S. relations. It took countervailing perspectives from the Defense Department and White House to overrule the U.S. State Department's stereotyped thinking about Thailand," Mr. Kavi said.

On July 26, U.S. Congress received notification that the State Department approved a possible sale to Thailand of 60 Stryker infantry carrier vehicles with equipment and support worth $175 million, the Defense Department's Security Cooperation Agency said.

Among its international aircraft, the Thai air force operates Lockheed Martin Corp. F-16 fighter jets and Black Hawk helicopters.

Thailand is a Major Non-NATO U.S. ally. The U.S. military has used Thai territory and facilities to support wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In 2014, then-armed forces chief Gen. Prayuth seized power in a bloodless coup. Afterwards, the U.S. "invested" $460 million in four [Thai] military bases, the Bangkok Post reported in April.

Additionally, "the U.S. government sold about $437 million of major hardware to Thailand through foreign military sales since 2014," Bloomberg news reported.

Washington, Beijing and Moscow are also hoping use Thailand to assemble weapons systems, based on Bangkok's track record as the "Detroit of Southeast Asia" for its ability to assemble foreign cars.

Thailand's vocational and executive workers are poorly paid and mostly unable to form labor unions and thus attractive to U.S. and multinational corporations.

Unlike the U.S., China embraced Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha after his putsch and tightened economic, diplomatic and military relations.

Bangkok then agreed to buy Chinese armored carriers, tanks and submarines.

In addition to regional issues, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang was expected to discuss with Thai officials the continuation of Chinese construction, rail, road and other projects.

Beijing also gained in importance here because of the wealth China is willing to invest.

Chinese are Thailand's priority tourists. Nearly 10 million Chinese arrived in Thailand during 2018, out of 38 million people from all other countries.

Chinese bought nearly half of all Thai condos sold during 2018, according to the Bank of Thailand.

Most Chinese purchases were investments for resale or rental, especially in Bangkok. One Thai economist said some Chinese pay for expensive condos by transferring funds through bitcoin crypto currency, to avoid China's financial regulations.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meanwhile was greeted with enthusiasm on July 30 by Prime Minister Prayuth. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently met Mr. Prayuth at a Singapore conference.

"There will be more [Russian] investments in the Eastern Economic Corridor" where Thailand offers financial incentives to multinational corporations, Foreign Minister Don told Mr. Lavrov. "We will expedite pending projects and agreements with Russia."

"We can work together on counter-terrorism, counter-extremism, and counter-drug trafficking," Mr. Lavrov replied. "There are prospects" to increase military cooperation.

Moscow-based Russian Helicopters reportedly wants a joint venture with a Thai company in the Eastern Economic Corridor.

Among its models, Russian Helicopters is the "number one manufacturer globally in the attack helicopters segment," its website said.

Its Mi-8/17 can be fitted with three machine guns and 1.7 tons of armament including 57-mm unguided rockets, freefall bombs and an anti-tank system.

"The Federation of Thai Industries hopes to find a Thai partner for Russian Helicopters as the two governments have a cooperation agreement framework to further develop industry and trade," FTI vice chairman Kriangkrai Tiannukul said.

Bangkok chairs the six-day ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting 2019 which began on July 31. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The U.S., China, Japan, South Korea and Russia are attending meetings as "dialogue partners." North Korea declined to come.

After Mr. Pompeo departed Thailand on August 3, he traveled to Australia and Micronesia.