US diplomat embarks on Southeast Asia tour in Indonesia | South China Sea News

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blink will give a speech Tuesday in Jakarta on Washington’s approach to the Indo-Pacific.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blink has made a “very significant” commitment to Indonesia, according to the country’s foreign minister, when the top US diplomat embarked on a tour of Southeast Asia amid growing tensions. With China in the region.

Blinken met with Indonesian President Games Widodo on Monday and stressed the importance of a “strategic partnership” between the two countries, the U.S. State Department said in a statement.

Blinken praised Indonesia’s “leadership” in the Indo-Pacific, saying the country is “a strong advocate of the world’s third-largest democracy and rules-based international order.”

After Blinken’s meeting with Indonesian President Jokowi, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said Washington was interested in establishing partnerships with Jakarta, including in infrastructure.

“The US commitment was very clear,” Retno told reporters, without going into further detail.

The US Secretary of State will give a speech in the Indonesian capital on the vision of the Biden administration. Indo-Pacific local time on Tuesday morning.

Blinken will also make stops in Malaysia and Thailand on his tour of the region as the competition between Washington and Beijing intensifies.

Daniel Kritenbrink, the U.S. Undersecretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, told reporters before Blinken’s trip that the U.S. wants to take the “unprecedented level” with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

President Joe Biden attends US-ASEAN virtual summit in October by appointment deepen collaboration with the block. The United States has previously expressed support for some ASEAN countries in strains China On the South China Sea, Beijing is an important trade route for itself.

Also on Sunday, the US, Australia and Japan announced efforts Funding a submarine cable to promote Internet access in three small Pacific countries in the Federated States of Nauru, Kiribati and Micronesia.

Blinken’s visit to Southeast Asia comes less than a week after the US, Canada and Australia announced diplomatic boycott Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, with the Chinese government citing human rights violations, including their treatment. Uighurs Muslims Xinjiang region.

The US has blamed China committing genocide against the Uyghurs — a charge denied by the Chinese government. China rejected the diplomatic boycott because it was a “political manipulation” that goes against the spirit of the Olympics.

China opposed it earlier this year A joint effort by the United States and the United Kingdom to supply Australia with nuclear power. Beijing also expressed concern about Biden’s efforts to strengthen it Quad alliance After hosting a summit with the White House in India, Japan and Australia in September.

Among those many points of tension, Biden joined last month virtual meeting With Chinese President Xi Jinping, he called for the settlement of disagreements by working together on common interests with Beijing.

Before the meeting warned X Returning to the tensions in the Asia-Pacific during the Cold War.

“The Asia-Pacific region cannot and must not return to the Cold War-era confrontation and division,” he said.