Blinken calls for deeper US engagement amid “aggressive” China concerns Reuters

Author: Humeyra Pamuk

JACKET (Reuters) – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday called for a strategy to deepen treaties in the Asian alliances, offering to boost defense and intelligence work with partners in the Indo-Pacific region who are increasingly concerned about China’s “aggressive actions”.

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

He said the United States, its allies and some claimants in the South China Sea would back down against any illegal action.

“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 a university.

“I would like to make it clear that the goal of defending order based on rules is not to uphold any country. On the contrary, it is to protect the right of all countries to choose their own path, without coercion or intimidation.”

China owns almost the entire South China Sea, along with other coastal states, and an international tribunal has ruled over some of the claims, even though China’s broad claim 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.

Blinken is making his first visit to Southeast Asia since President Joe Biden took office in January, a trip aimed at strengthening relations after a period of uncertainty in the Donald Trump administration about US commitment to Asia.

‘A BETTER TYPE OF INFRASTRUCTURE’

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.

Blinken said the United States would strengthen ties with allied alliances such as Japan, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines and boost defense and intelligence capabilities with Indo-Pacific partners, as well as open and secure internet.

However, he stressed that there is no competition between a region focused on the US or China.

He also said that Washington is committed to putting pressure on the military junta in Myanmar to end the violence, release the detainees and return to an inclusive democracy.

The United States has opted for a new comprehensive economic framework for the region, with more foreign direct investment in the U.S. and U.S. companies identifying new opportunities in the region without giving details.

The administration has not yet determined exactly what the economic framework envisaged by Biden will entail. The Trump administration withdrew in 2017 from a US-inspired multinational Pacific Ocean trade deal.

Blinken, who will also visit Malaysia and Thailand this week, said the United States will work to strengthen supply chains and close regional infrastructure gaps, from ports and roads to power grids 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 importing their work into the Indo-Pacific, emptying natural resources and polluting the environment.

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

“But a lot of them think it’s too expensive, or they put pressure on others to make bad deals, not without a deal.”