Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence, will be coming to Singapore on Sunday, Nov. 11, to attend the Asean Summit.

He will take the place of the President Donald Trump, according to a press release by the White House on Friday, Nov. 9.

He will also be attending the East Asia Summit (EAS) held in Singapore from Nov. 14 to 15.

This will be Pence’s third trip to the region in his capacity as Vice President.

He will be joined by National Security Advisor John Bolton.

Bilateral meetings with state leaders

While in Singapore, he will also be meeting PM Lee Hsien Loong.

In addition, he will be visiting Japan to meet with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Australia to meet with Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Pence will be travelling to Papua New Guinea next from Nov. 17 to 18 to attend the Apec Summit as well, where he will meet with Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister Peter O’Neil. 

He will then be meeting India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

No Trump this time

Although there was speculation earlier that Trump will be visiting the region, the White House dispelled such rumours, announcing on Aug. 31 that Trump will be skipping the meetings and visit France and Argentina instead.

He will be going to Paris first for an event that commemorates the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended the First World War, before going to Buenos Aires for the G20 Summit.

To "highlight American leadership in the region"

Alyssa Farah, Press Secretary for the Vice President, said Pence is "honoured" to represent Trump at the summits in Singapore and Papua New Guinea, and that he will "highlight American leadership in the region and reaffirm [their] commitment to freedom, economic prosperity, and security in the Indo-Pacific".

Pence will also "reaffirm the President’s commitment to the final, fully verified denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula".

She added:

"He will also deliver the message that authoritarianism, aggression, and the disregard for other nations’ sovereignty by any nation in the Indo-Pacific will not be tolerated by the United States.”

Top image via VOA News/YT