OPINION | The great Indo-Pacific hedge - deeper defence ties as US doubts grow and China ascends

Although regional nations were deepening ties among themselves, Asian officials insisted that U.S. commitment to the Indo-Pacific remains undimmed by the Middle East conflict or President Donald Trump's America First policy.

"Our confidence is not swayed by reason of the involvement of the United States in Iran, for example, and in other areas," said the Philippines' Teodoro.

For Australia, Defence Minister Richard Marles described ties with Washington as, "absolutely fundamental to our national security".

"For both of us, the Trump administration and the Albanese government in Australia, we see ourselves as stewards of a relationship which goes well beyond us," Marles told Reuters.

(Reporting By Greg Torode, Raju Gopalakrishnan in Singapore; additional reporting by Claire Fu, Yong Jun Yuan and Xinghui Kok Editing by Shri Navaratnam)