President Biden hosts US-ASEAN Special Summit to discuss Indo-Pacific, Myanmar issues

Asia-Pacific, News, US May 14, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

U.S. announces $150 million worth of initiatives to strengthen U.S.-ASEAN partnership

U.S. President Joe Biden hosted the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for a summit in Washington D.C. on May 12, 2022, to discuss Indo-Pacific, China, Myanmar, and economic issues.

The ongoing war in Ukraine has been the White House’s top priority on the foreign policy front, however, the focus of attention has been diverted back to the Indo-Pacific region as the U.S. president hosted the leaders from the ASEAN countries to reaffirm its commitments to the region where it is engaging in a tussle for dominance with China.

The U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit 2022 was held for the first time in Washington D.C. where leaders from both sides discussed hot issues related to the post-Covid economic revival, international and regional security as well as ongoing situation in Myanmar.

Only eight leaders from the bloc of 10 ASEAN countries participated in the summit. No representative from the Philippines was attending that summit because the country is in the midst of a presidential transition after the elections this week, while Myanmar’s Senior General Min Aung Hlaing was barred from attending the event after he orchestrated a military coup against the elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021.

Myanmar’s military coup remained a hot topic for discussion among all the leaders during the summit. A chair around the table remained empty to represent Myanmar’s overthrown civilian government. According to a senior U.S. official, “an empty chair reflects our dissatisfaction with what’s taken place and our hope for a better path forward”.

^{U.S. President Joe Biden with leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) arrives for a group photo on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, on May 12, 2022. (Image Credit: AP/Susan Walsh)}

Biden’s strong condemnation of Myanmar’s current situation has brought up a dilemma for the U.S. leadership over its stance on promoting democratic values in ASEAN. While President Biden strongly condemned the toppling of Myanmar’s civilian government, he rolled out a red carpet for the current rotating chairman of ASEAN and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, whose four-decade-long rule of Cambodia is marred by corruption and human rights violation.

Similarly, other participants of the U.S.-ASEAN Summit have a reputation for practicing authoritarianism. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, the ruling monarch of Brunei, has been in power since 1967. Thailand Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha won elections in 2019 after seizing power through a military coup in 2014. Laos and Vietnam are also repressive one-party authoritarian states.

Many activists are pointing out that by inviting these leaders the Biden administration is sending a message that the U.S. will tolerate human rights violations in the name of forging alliances to counter China.

U.S. administration announced over $150 million in initiatives during the summit, that they said would “deepen U.S.-ASEAN relations, strengthen ASEAN centrality and expand our common capacity to achieve our shared objectives.”

Biden administration reaffirmed its support for several ongoing projects and proposals from the ASEAN leaders in the realms of climate change support, sustainable development, space cooperation, infrastructure development, and people-to-people exchange programs. The two sides also agreed upon expanding the mutual maritime cooperation.

The ASEAN leaders also met the U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and the Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss the maritime cooperation between the U.S. and ASEAN as well as pandemic recovery and health security of ASEAN countries.