Pence's remarks show who the real troublemaker is

In remarks that carried a barely veiled swipe at China, US Vice-President Mike Pence told leaders of Southeast Asian nations in Singapore on Thursday that "empire and aggression have no place" in the region.

Yet in referring to it as "the Indo-Pacific" at a summit of Southeast Asian leaders, he once again showed that is what the United States is bringing to the Asia-Pacific.

Yet his bid to pit China against its Asia-Pacific neighbors will find no takers, because it was so out of sync with what the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit and its related meetings were focusing on - enhanced trade, and peace and security in the region.