Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday he is as committed to US engagement with the Asia-Pacific as his predecessor. Kerry, who took office last month, moved to dispel doubts that he was less supportive of the Obama administration’s so-called “pivot” to Asia, initiated on the watch of former top diplomat Hillary Rodham Clinton. Kerry, however, took issue with the notion of a “pivot” as it implied the US was turning away from Europe and the Middle East. “I don’t think that our rebalance and our engagement has to be at the expense of anyone else,” he told reporters after meeting Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr.—AP