ASEAN summit takes place amid China’s aggressive behavior in contested South China Sea
Washington:
US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien has argued for a free and open Indo-Pacific, a strategic region that has seen renewed global attention due to China’s expansionist behavior.
Addressing the US-ASEAN virtual summit on Friday, O’Brien highlighted the enormous benefit the partnership has brought to the prosperity, security and well-being of more than one billion people in the United States and ASEAN countries, the White House said in a statement. declaration.
He reaffirmed the United States’ long-standing commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, he said.
ASEAN is considered one of the most influential groupings in the region, and India and several other countries including the United States, China, Japan and Australia are its dialogue partners.
The virtual ASEAN summit, which kicked off on Thursday, is taking place amid China’s aggressive behavior in the contested South China Sea. A number of ASEAN countries have territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea.
Beijing claims nearly all of the South China Sea’s 1.3 million square kilometers as territory. China has built military bases on man-made islands in the region which, in part, is claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Beijing has hampered commercial activities such as fishing and mineral exploration by neighboring countries in recent years, claiming that ownership of the resource-rich maritime territory has belonged to China for hundreds of years.
The 10 ASEAN member countries are Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia.
Mr. O’Brien, who attended the Summit as Donald Trump’s special envoy, shared a message on behalf of the president welcoming the 5th anniversary of the US-ASEAN strategic partnership.
Donald Trump attended the ASEAN summit in 2017, but only sent representatives to the last two meetings. A special summit with ASEAN it was supposed to host in Las Vegas in March has been called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. O’Brien will also represent the United States at a virtual summit in East Asia on Saturday.
The East Asia Summit (EAS) is the Asia-Pacific region’s premier forum to address security and defense issues. Since its inception in 2005, it has played an important role in the strategic, geopolitical and economic evolution of East Asia.
Saturday’s virtual summit will be chaired by Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc and will see the participation of 18 EAS countries.
In addition to the 10 ASEAN member states, the East Asia Summit includes India, China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, United States and Russia.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
