Biden hosts Asean leaders in bid to show Indo-Pacific commitment

WASHINGTON • US President Joe Biden is hosting South-east Asian leaders in Washington this week, seeking to show his administration remains focused on the Indo-Pacific and the long-term challenge of China despite the Ukraine crisis.

A two-day summit with the 10-nation Asean was to begin with a White House dinner yesterday before talks at the State Department today. It will be the first time leaders of Asean, created in some of the darkest days of the Cold War, gather as a group at the White House.

President Barack Obama was the last United States leader to host them, at Sunnylands in California in 2016.

Up to eight Asean leaders are expected to attend. Myanmar's leader has been excluded over a coup last year and the Philippines is in transition after an election.

The White House said discussions are under way with Asean about having an empty chair represent Myanmar at the summit to reflect dissatisfaction over the coup.

The Asean leaders, accompanied by US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, were also slated to meet US business leaders yesterday, the White House told reporters in a call.

The summit takes place ahead of Mr Biden's May 20-24 visit to South Korea and Japan, which includes a plan to meet fellow leaders of the Quad countries - Australia, India and Japan - who share US concerns about China's ambitions to expand its influence in the region and globally.

Mr Biden's Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell spoke at a think-tank on Wednesday of a deep sense in the administration of the need not to be distracted from the Indo-Pacific, and said it would seek to increase US investment and engagement in Asean countries.

He said China, Myanmar, Taiwan and Ukraine would be among the issues discussed.

"We believe it's critical for other countries to both publicly and privately underscore that what has taken place in Ukraine must never happen in Asia," Mr Campbell said, referring to China's threats to retake Taiwan by force if necessary.

He acknowledged critiques that US engagement with Asean had waned in many important areas.

"We have to send a signal that the United States will be a steady partner, and that our strategic interests push us and point us into playing a larger role over time," Mr Campbell said.

On Monday, he had said that there would be "substantial" discussions with Asean on technology, education and infrastructure, and that Washington would soon announce plans to better battle illegal fishing in the Pacific.

Ms Kate Rebholz, acting US ambassador to Asean, said the summit would bring "an ambitious and forward-looking US-Asean vision statement" and initiatives, including partnerships in public health, climate and economic growth.

Even if the summit is largely symbolic and no dramatic advances are to be expected, analysts and diplomats said the fact it was taking place aimed to show that China remains a long-term US foreign policy challenge, regardless of Russia's actions in Ukraine.

They said it would likely elevate the current US-Asean "strategic partnership" by adding a word to make it a "comprehensive" strategic partnership, bringing it into line with the description of Asean's relations with Australia and China.

"The meeting is the message... that the US is, in fact, capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time, and it's not distracted," Mr Bilahari Kausikan, a former permanent secretary of Singapore's foreign ministry, told the Stimson Centre think-tank on Monday.

Asean countries also share concerns about China and are broadly keen to boost ties with Washington, but they have been frustrated by a US delay in detailing plans for economic engagement since former president Donald Trump quit a regional trade pact in 2017.

At a virtual summit with Asean last October, Mr Biden said Washington would start talks about developing a regional economic framework, but diplomats say this is likely to feature only peripherally this week.

There has been some frustration that Asean leaders will get little personal time with Mr Biden, with no bilateral meetings announced, though the White House said the US president will have "private time" with each leader.

An adviser to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen who has been in office since 1985 but making his first White House visit, said Mr Biden should spend more time with leaders if he is serious about elevating ties.

REUTERS