President Joe Biden Vowed Saturday That U.S Would Work With ASEAN

President Joe Biden vowed Saturday that the United States would work with a strategically important coalition of Southeast Asian nations, telling leaders "we will build a better future that we all want to see" in the region where the US are rivals China is also working to expand its influence. 

Citing the three Association of Southeast Asian Nations summits he has attended as president, Biden said the 10-nation bloc is "the heart of my administration's Indo-Pacific strategy," and pledged to work together to build a region that is "free" and open, stable and prosperous, resilient and secure". 

I look forward to continuing our work  with ASEAN and with each  of you to deepen peace and prosperity across the region and Address challenges of the South China Sea to Myanmar and  find innovative solutions to common challenges," Biden said, naming climate and health security as areas of cooperation. The basis for his much-anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the first in person Meeting of the Biden Presidency with a Leader Whose Nation is the USA

It is now considered its most powerful economic and military rival. Biden and Xi are set to meet  Monday at the Group of 20 summit bringing together the leaders of the world's largest economies, taking place this year in Indonesia on the island of Bali. Traveling to Phnom Penh early Saturday, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Biden will raise issues such as freedom of navigation and illegal and unregulated fishing by China with  ASEAN leaders in a bid to give US clout over  Beijing demonstrate.

Freedom of navigation refers to a dispute over the South China Sea, where the United States says it can sail and fly where international law allows, and China believes such missions are destabilizing. Sullivan said the United States had a key role to play as a stabilizing force in the region, preventing a nation from engaging in "prolonged intimidation and coercion that would be fundamentally contrary to  ASEAN and other countries." Force One on Saturday. Referring to the PRC, Sullivan continued, "I think the PRC may not like that fact, but they certainly recognize and understand it."

A new initiative related to  that effort, which Biden will discuss Saturday, focuses on maritime awareness, specifically using radio spectrum from commercial satellites to better track dark shipping and illegal fishing, Sullivan said.

Biden's visit to Cambodia -- the second in history by a US president -- continues his administration's push to demonstrate its investments in the South Pacific, which was highlighted earlier this year when the White House hosted an ASEAN summit in Washington, its first of its kind in 1. It also called one of its top advisers, Yohannes Abraham, as  official envoy to ASEAN, another way the White House has underscored this commitment. 

ASEAN raises U.S this year to "broad strategic partnership" status, a largely symbolic upgrade to their relationship but one that puts Washington on the same footing as China, which won the award last year. Biden opened Saturday in Phnom Penh by meeting  Hun Sen, the prime minister of Cambodia, the host of the regional summit. 

He also attended the traditional family photo with Southeast Asian leaders, which required a re-run as the gregarious Biden was too busy shaking hands with other heads of state. and  will then attend a gala dinner hosted by a parallel summit in Cambodia focused on East Asia. Another issue Biden has focused on is Myanmar, where the military junta overthrew the ruling government in February 2021 and arrested its democratically elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. .During his meeting with Hun Sen, Biden emphasized that the U.S campaigned for a return to  democracy in Myanmar, which  before the coup had been steadily moving towards democratic governance. 

In his brief remarks on Saturday, Biden misidentified host country Cambodia as "Colombia," a mistake he also made  Thursday night when he left the US at the US-US summit. ASEAN, there was an empty chair where a representative war of Myanmar would have met had its leaders not been barred from  official ASEAN meetings Biden will attend summits in  East Asia  on Sunday, including a trilogue with  leaders of South Korea and Japan, before heading to the G20 summit leaves for  Bali.