US President Joe Biden affirmed the long-term commitment of the United States to the Southeast Asian region in confronting China, when he received the leaders of the region’s countries at the first summit in Washington on Friday. Southeast Asia for more than five years.
It marks the first time ASEAN leaders have met as a group in Washington, and their first hosted by a US president since 2016. The Biden administration hopes the effort will show that Washington remains focused on the Indo-Pacific region and the long-term challenge to China despite the crisis in Ukraine. Biden told ASEAN leaders that a “free, open, stable, prosperous, resilient and secure region is what we all strive for.” Biden said he would appoint Yohannes Abraham, chief of staff to the National Security Council, as ambassador to the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta.
Vice President Kamala Harris said during her meeting with ASEAN leaders over a working lunch that the US administration “recognizes the vital strategic importance of your region.” “As a nation in the Indo-Pacific region, the United States will be present and will continue to be engaged in Southeast Asia for generations to come,” she added. And she stressed the need to preserve the freedom of the seas, which Washington says is being challenged by China. “The United States and ASEAN share a vision for this region, and we will work together to protect against threats to international rules and norms,” she said.
In a joint statement after the summit, the United States and ASEAN nations “reaffirmed our commitment to the sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine.” “We realize that if the war continues, we will all suffer,” Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said during her meeting with her US counterpart, Anthony Blinken. Washington did not extend an invitation to the military junta ruling Burma that toppled the government of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi last year, and which was imposed by US sanctions. The joint statement reiterated ASEAN leaders’ support for the so-called “five points of consensus” reached in Jakarta in April 2021 calling for a cessation of violence and “constructive dialogue” despite criticism of the lack of progress.
(agencies)