Blinken vows stronger Indo-Pacific ties because China is “aggressive” | ASEAN news

The top U.S. diplomat says Washington will expand military and economic relations with member countries in an Indo-Pacific region, and said it is increasingly concerned about China’s “aggressive actions.”

During a visit to Indonesia on Tuesday, Antony Blinken described the Indo-Pacific as the most dynamic region in the world and said everyone has a commitment and a fearless status quo to ensure a barely covered reference to China.

“We will work with our allies and partners to keep the region open and accessible to defend the order we have built together over the decades,” he said in a speech at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta.

“It simply came to our notice then. Rather, it is about protecting the right of all countries to choose their own path, without harassment or intimidation. “

The US Secretary of State is in Indonesia on his first visit to Southeast Asia since President Joe Biden took office in January, with the aim of strengthening relations after a period of uncertainty over Donald Trump’s administration’s commitment to Asia.

Blink’s week-long tour will also take him to Malaysia and Thailand. It is important to address China’s growing assertiveness in the region, especially in the South China Sea, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

South China Sea, Taiwan

Blinken stressed that Washington is not trying to force the country to choose between the US and China or seeking conflict with China. But he lodged a complaint about “Beijing’s aggressive actions” “from Northeast Asia to Southeast Asia and from the Mekong River to the Pacific Islands.”

“Countries across the region want to change that behavior,” he said. “So do we.”

“We are committed to ensuring freedom of navigation in the South China Sea,” he said. “That’s why we have a lasting interest in the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait.”

China claims almost all of the South China Sea for itself, even though it overlaps with other coastal states and an international tribunal, despite China’s widespread claim that it has no legal basis. Beijing has dismissed the U.S. stance as an interference from an outside power that could threaten the stability of Asia.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately comment on Blinken’s remarks.

Despite tensions in the South China Sea, Beijing’s influence has grown in recent years as it encourages more infrastructure investment and integrated trade links in the Asia-Pacific region, perceiving a lack of economic strategy for the U.S. region.

Ei Sun Oh, an analyst at the Malaysian Pacific Research Center, said that while the US was taking part in a “superpower competition with China”, its goal of isolating China would not be met “unless it is ready to renew the waves of trade”. and investment ”with Asia Pacific countries.

“This part of the world is basically about doing business, negotiating with each other, welcoming foreign investment,” Ohe told Al Jazeera in Malaysia’s Kota Kinabalu.

“It simply came to our notice then in the 1980s and 1990s. But since the last decade, we have seen a slow but steady decline in American investment in the region. Its trade with the region has become China’s second largest city. So until I can restore the previous economic relationship with the region, I believe that China will still be dominant when it comes to involving the region economically. “

“Better infrastructure”

In his speech, Blinken said the U.S. is committed to a new comprehensive economic framework for the region, which will include more U.S. foreign direct investment and U.S. companies that identify new opportunities in the region.

He also said that the US will work to strengthen supply chains and close gaps in the region’s infrastructure, from ports and roads to electricity networks and the Internet.

In another blow to China, he said the U.S. was listening to growing concerns about the opaque and corrupt processes of foreign companies that imported their work into the Indo-Pacific, emptied natural resources and polluted the environment.

“Indo-Pacific countries want a better kind of infrastructure,” he said.

“But many feel it’s too expensive, or feel pressured to make bad deals under the conditions set by others, not without a deal.”

Blinken also said the US would “build stronger ties” with its five allies in the region – Australia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand – and strengthen ties with the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). )

“ASEAN has long been strong and independent in dealing with urgent crises and long-term challenges,” Blinken said, especially to the military authorities in Myanmar, also known as Burma, for taking in February and cracking down on protesters.

“We will continue to work with our allies and partners to put pressure on the regime to stop its indiscriminate violence, release all those unjustly detained, allow unhindered access and restore Burma’s path to inclusive democracy,” he said.