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Washington [US]July 21st (ANI): Amid China’s “illegal” claims over the South China Sea and “coercion” against Southeast Asian eligible states, particularly Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines, the USA is increasing its commitment with the Association of Southeast Asian).
Richard Javad Heydarian wrote in the Asia Times that Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin both have regional allies and partners in the region.
The Biden government is now increasing its diplomatic engagement with ASEAN. At his first meeting with ASEAN foreign ministers, Blinken emphasized common interests and Washington’s commitment to the “centrality” of the regional body in shaping the broader Indo-Pacific security architecture.
He also called for a coordinated response to the looming crisis in Myanmar and categorically denied China’s “illegal” maritime claims in the South China Sea, the Asia Times reported.
The US chief diplomat’s tough stance on Beijing’s expansive demands came amid a protracted distress at sea between China and smaller Southeast Asian claim states, Heydarian says.
From mid-May to mid-June alone, up to 238 Chinese ships operated illegally in the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, an ally of the US treaty.
To reassure the besieged regional states, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will visit the frontline states of the Philippines and Vietnam and the Singapore regional center where he will deliver a much-anticipated keynote address at the Profil Fullerton Forum, Asia Times reported.
Washington’s regional diplomacy is expected to culminate this year with Biden’s attendance at the ASEAN summit later this year, with a number of key bilateral meetings being ironed out on the sidelines, Heydarian wrote.
Blinken also reaffirmed US commitment to a “free and open Mekong region” as upstream countries like China expand environmentally destabilizing dam projects at the expense of Southeast Asian low-flow countries.
As for China’s “vaccine diplomacy,” the US also assured the region that millions of US-made COVID-19 vaccines are on the way.
The Biden government has doubled its own “vaccine diplomacy” in the region, donating billions of dollars to the global COVAX facility and millions of COVID-19 vaccines to ASEAN countries, Asia Times reported.
Thailand and Malaysia expect one million US-made vaccines, while larger numbers are expected to go to Vietnam (two million), the Philippines (three million) and Indonesia (four million).
In addition, the Biden administration has stepped up the stakes by also dispatching Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to visit China’s two fiercest sea rivals, Vietnam and the Philippines, Heydarian wrote. (ANI)
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