KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A senior U.S. official says the concept of a free and open Indo-Pacific region is not a move to expand U.S. domination but reflects Washington's "enduring engagement" to make the area prosperous.

David Stilwell, the State Department's assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific, says security is a pillar in the U.S. model of engagement in the region but it isn't a central part and is done through partnerships with regional countries.

He was responding to a question at a forum Thursday about China's concern that the U.S. initiative was a military strategy to counter Beijing and Russia.

Stillwell says "without security, you can't have trade" and prosperity is impossible.

But he says the U.S. "has never and never will seek domination" in the region.