Special Summit in Washington… “ASEAN centrality is at the core of US strategy”
Declaration of ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’… Call for complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula
On the 13th (local time), the second and last day of the US-ASEAN Commemorative Summit held in Washington DC, US President Joe Biden announced the beginning of a new era between the US and ASEAN.
“We are not only celebrating 45 years of partnership and friendship between the United States and ASEAN, but ushering in a new era in bilateral relations,” Biden said at a summit meeting at the State Department.
He said that through this summit, the two sides discussed a wide range of issues, such as responding to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) and climate change, building infrastructure, expanding access to education, and strengthening maritime cooperation. It reflects what’s important,” he said.
It is the first time in six years since the Barack Obama administration in 2016 that the US personally invited ASEAN leaders to the US mainland to hold a meeting.
The day before the first meeting, the meeting was held at the White House.
It was the first time the US-ASEAN summit was held at the White House.
Nine countries including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines were invited to the summit.
In the Philippines, former senator Ferdinand Marcos was elected in the recent presidential election, and the foreign minister participated as the representative.
Myanmar, where the military seized power in a coup, was not invited.
President Biden emphasized in particular the “free and open, stable and prosperous, resilient and secure Indo-Pacific”.
“We are committed to a future in which the rules and norms that enable growth, prosperity and stability in the Indo-Pacific, including respect for the rule of law and human rights, are maintained and strengthened,” he said.
The expressions ‘free and open Indo-Pacific’, ‘rules’ and ‘respect for human rights’ are terms mainly used by the United States to contain China in the Indo-Pacific.
At the meeting on the previous day, announcing a plan to support ASEAN of 150 million dollars (regarding 192 billion won) to provide equipment such as coast guard speedboats and to dispatch professional personnel to train the coast guard personnel, it was effectively a check once morest China. It is interpreted as an extension of what was blown.
President Biden reiterated that “ASEAN centrality is at the core of our government’s strategy,” adding, “The US-ASEAN partnership is important and we will continue to strengthen it.”
President Biden also said that he has nominated Johannes Abraham, who served as an advisor to the transition committee following the 2020 presidential victory, as the US ambassador to ASEAN.
Earlier, during a luncheon with ASEAN leaders, Vice President Kamala Harris said, “Our government recognizes the strategic importance of the ASEAN region. said.
In a joint statement released following the summit, ASEAN countries and the United States announced that they had decided to establish an ‘ASEAN-US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ at the 10th ASEAN-US summit scheduled for November this year.
The statement stressed the maintenance of peace, security and stability in the region, including freedom of navigation, and called for full implementation of the Declaration of Conduct (DOC) of States Parties to the South China Sea, adopted in 2002 by China and ASEAN to prevent territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
We reaffirmed our commitment to the goal of complete denuclearization and establishment of lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula and urged North Korea to implement relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
It also reaffirmed respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity, emphasizing the immediate cessation of hostilities and a peaceful settlement.
In addition, cooperation was specified in response to COVID-19, building low-carbon infrastructure, responding to climate change, stabilizing supply chains, strengthening cybersecurity capabilities, cracking down on illegal fishing, and digital technologies including 5G.
/yunhap news
