On Thursday in Washington, Singaporean Prime Minister (PM) Lee Hsien Loong welcomed the Biden administration’s announcement of $150 million in new initiatives with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) nations via the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) but demanded that they must be “inclusive” and provide “tangible benefits” to “encourage wider participation.”
Speaking at an engagement with the US-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Business Council and the US Chamber of Commerce, Lee said that the framework should also “cover cooperation in areas like digital and green economies and infrastructure because these issues will resonate strongly in the region.” “We encourage greater ASEAN participation in the IPEF and we hope the US will directly invite and engage ASEAN member states in this endeavour,” he added.
The ASEAN-US Special Summit kicked off today. @POTUS Joe Biden welcomed ASEAN leaders to the White House. Also met with US business leaders & had lunch with @SpeakerPelosi. The plenary sessions take place tomorrow. – LHL https://t.co/zuAOYUHbQE pic.twitter.com/V8t6HKBBjW
— leehsienloong (@leehsienloong) May 13, 2022
Lee is on a working visit to Washington DC from May 10 to May 14 to attend the ASEAN-US Special Summit hosted by President Joe Biden. The Summit, which was originally scheduled for March, is the second Special Summit between American and ASEAN leaders since 2016. The summit will also include leaders from Brunei, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Malaysia. In line with the ASEAN’s previous position on the military coup in Myanmar, Myanmar’s military leader, Min Aung Hlaing, was excluded from the summit.
His remarks come in response to United States (US) President Joe Biden unveiling a host of new initiatives to boost US-ASEAN collaboration in infrastructural development, maritime security, and pandemic preparedness. This includes a $40 million investment in infrastructure intended to help decarbonise ASEAN’s power supply, $60 million in regional maritime security initiatives, and $15 million in health funding to aid in the early detection of COVID-19 and other respiratory issues.
A fact sheet released on the White House website said outlined that the Biden administration has allocated $800 million in bilateral assistance for ASEAN countries in FY 2023. The release noted that the US is ASEAN’s biggest source of foreign investment, with their trade relationship valued at above $360 billion.
Biden holds a summit today with 8 of the 10 leaders of ASEAN, which, as a group, hasn't condemned Russia for waging war. His democracy-vs.-autocracy rhetoric strikes a discordant note with ASEAN: only 2 of its states are true democracies with judicial independence and free media.
— Brahma Chellaney (@Chellaney) May 12, 2022
The US noted that moving forward, it will prioritise investment in clean energy infrastructure and ensuring the maintenance of “sustainable, climate-positive forest economies.” The fact sheet also talks about providing technical assistance to ASEAN countries in order to accelerate their development of low-emission and renewable energy strategies.
It also envisions greater maritime cooperation, including training and capacity building, and monitoring and countering illegal fishing.
They will also expand collaboration in public health. The US has already provided more than $200 million in COVID-19 assistance and donated 115 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the region. In this respect, they will work to enable early detection of potential health crises to avert future pandemics.
This evening, I welcomed ASEAN leaders to the White House for the first time in history, and reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to Southeast Asia. We discussed the importance of working together to ensure security, prosperity, and respect for human rights for our one billion people. pic.twitter.com/nu6X5Lh2eh
— President Biden (@POTUS) May 13, 2022
Separately, in a press conference by a Biden administration official, the US talked about working with ASEAN to confront the “fundamental long-term challenges” in the Indo-Pacific by promoting human rights, the rule of law, and good governance. The official mentioned that the two sides will discuss worrying developments in Myanmar and the junta’s continued crackdown on dissenters and democracy.
Another White House official outlined a strategy to boost cooperation in clean energy and maritime issues, digital economy, innovation, public-private partnerships, artificial intelligence, disease control and prevention, and infrastructural development.
The #US should clear the bombs & mines it left in #Vietnam, #Laos & #Cambodia before it talks about protection of democracy & #HumanRights in #SoutheastAsia, said Chinese FM after listing the enormous harm caused by the large number of explosives left in these countries. pic.twitter.com/kUQc0kmrzo
— Ambassador Deng Xijun (@China2ASEAN) May 12, 2022
In response to the announcement, Chinese analysts said they believe that Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy aims “to secure” Washington’s “global leadership.” Chinese state-owned media house Global Times cited unnamed political analysts who speculated that the Biden administration will likely announce more investment plans in the region “to make up for the shortcomings of Washington’s previous engagement with Southeast Asia, which focused only on security and ignored the economy.” They further opined that the US would use its “profound political and strategic objectives aimed at forcing countries to decouple from China.”
While Washington has indeed sought to reassure ASEAN of its strong commitment to the region, which it views as key to balancing its strategic competition with China, it has stressed at the same time that it is not forcing the regional bloc to choose between the two superpowers. “This reflects a recognition on the part of the administration that we need to step up our game in Southeast Asia and that as part of that, we need to work more closely with ASEAN,” a senior administration official speaking on condition of anonymity told the media on Thursday.
Biden will only embolden ASEAN's autocratic leaders unless at the May 12 summit he directly confronts the region’s worsening environment for human rights and democracy. He should also address ASEAN's failure to confront the Myanmar junta's atrocities. https://t.co/Ird8N0IUpu pic.twitter.com/8YDdgCWMYX
— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) May 10, 2022
“We are not asking countries to make a choice between the United States and China. We want to make clear, though, that the United States seeks stronger relationships... to do that, we need to be responsive to the desires of countries in the region to work in areas that are important to them,” he added.
The summit comes ahead of Biden’s visit to South Korea and Japan from May 20-24. While the White House is still finalising details of the schedule, the US leader is likely to make a trip to the heavily fortified demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, much like his predecessor Donald Trump.