US for ‘a longterm commitment to Southeast Asia’
Washington, US - President Joe Biden on Friday promised a longterm commitment to Southeast Asia in the face of China’s growing clout as he met regional leaders for a first summit in Washington. Biden laid out US$150mn in new initiatives and announced plans for the first full US ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in more than five years.
A region that ‘is free and open, stable and prosperous, and resilient and secure is what we’re all seeking,” Biden told ASEAN leaders, a day after he kicked off the two-day summit with a White House dinner of poached chicken, ravioli and vanilla ice cream.
Vice President Kamala Harris, meeting ASEAN leaders for a working lunch, said the administration ‘recognises the vital strategic importance of your region’. “As an Indo-Pacific nation, the United States will be present and continue to be engaged in Southeast Asia for generations to come,” she said.
Biden said he would nominate Yohannes Abraham, the chief of staff of the National Security Council and a key aide during the presidential transition, as ambassador to ASEAN’s secretariat in Jakarta. The United States has not had a Senate-confirmed ambassador to ASEAN since Barack Obama’s presidency, with Donald Trump only nominating an envoy after losing the 2020 election.
Lacking trade policy
The Biden administration is hoping to demonstrate a sustained interest in Southeast Asia after months focused on repelling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Biden took office saying that his top foreign policy priority would be the global competition with China, which has surpassed the United States as Southeast Asia’s top trading partner and has been increasingly assertive on territorial disputes in the region. Richard Fontaine, chief executive officer of the Center for a New American Security, said Biden’s summit pledges were bound to bring ‘uncomfortable comparisons’.
Chinese President Xi Jinping at his own virtual summit with ASEAN last year announced US$1.5bn in COVID aid over three years, while the United States is preparing a US$40bn package for embattled Ukraine.
“To complicate matters further, the United States lacks a trade policy in Asia, the region where it matters most,” Fontaine said.