This year’s virtual ASEAN Summit and related meetings took place from October 26 to 28. Heads of state and government, including President Joe Biden, took part in the discussions. But one country was not represented: Myanmar. The other nine members of ASEAN made an unprecedented decision to invite neither the junta leader, Min Aung Hlaing, nor any representative of the opposition National Unity Government. Instead, Myanmar was invited to dispatch a “non-political representative.” Instead, the junta boycotted the summit.
ASEAN’s decision was reportedly due to growing frustration within the bloc that Min Aung Hlaing has not made meaningful progress in implementing the Five Point Consensus the grouping reached to try and help end the crisis in Myanmar. It also reflects that resistance to the junta has only grown and many in the region have been forced to reevaluate their initial assumptions that the military would quickly consolidate control. Even Cambodia’s Hun Sen, who will chair ASEAN in 2022,
expressed frustration with Naypyidaw. He said, “Today, ASEAN did not expel Myanmar from [the] ASEAN framework. Myanmar abandoned its right.” He also added, “Now we are in the situation of ASEAN minus one. It is not because of ASEAN, but because of Myanmar.”
In preparation for President Biden’s participation in the U.S.-ASEAN and East Asia Summits, the White House
announced $102 million in new initiatives to expand the U.S.-ASEAN Strategic Partnership. Of this, $60 million will go toward strengthening the region’s public health infrastructure and bolstering its economic recovery from Covid-19. The administration also committed $20.5 million to various climate cooperation initiatives and $21.5 million toward people-to-people ties, education, and gender equality efforts.
In his remarks at the U.S.-ASEAN Summit, Biden
emphasized the importance of “showing up” and reiterated that ASEAN centrality is “essential to the regional architecture of the Indo-Pacific.” The next day, he
spoke at the East Asia Summit along with other ASEAN dialogue partners including Chinese premier Li Keqiang. There, the president
called China’s actions in relation to the South China Sea and Taiwan “coercive” and a threat to regional peace and stability. Biden also promised to develop a new “economic framework” for the region but provided no details. The administration’s lack of an economic strategy for the Indo-Pacific and disinterest in trade negotiations has been a major source of criticism. The vague framework promise acknowledges but seems unlikely to address that weakness.
At China’s summit with ASEAN, meanwhile, Li
committed $3.1 million in emergency medical supplies and urged countries to ratify the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership trade pact which includes the ASEAN members plus Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and China. He also laid the groundwork for a “special” ASEAN-China summit with President Xi Jinping, where the parties are expected to
upgrade their relationship to a “comprehensive strategic partnership.” At the East Asia Summit, Li contradicted Biden’s comments about Chinese coercion,
saying, “The South China Sea is our common home,” and that upholding peace, stability, and freedom of navigation and overflight is in everyone’s interest. He also warned the United States “not to send the wrong signals to the forces of Taiwan independence.”
Among ASEAN’s other dialogue partners, the most significant announcements probably came from Australia, which
agreed to upgrade its relationship with ASEAN to a comprehensive strategic partnership. Prime Minister Scott Morrison committed approximately $93.3 million to fund projects in the region to address Covid-19 recovery, terrorism, transnational crime, energy security, and lowering greenhouse gas emissions. He also reiterated that the new AUKUS agreement with the United States and the United Kingdom does not change Canberra’s commitment to nuclear non-proliferation and will not be a threat to the region.
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