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President Joe Biden will host leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Washington next month for a summit, the White House said Saturday.
The May 12-13 meeting is intended to demonstrate the United States’ commitment to be a partner with countries in the region.
The White House had previously announced that the summit would be held on March 28-29, but the regional grouping of countries known as ASEAN requested a postponement due to planning issues experienced by some of its members.
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The summit commemorates 45 years of US-ASEAN relations. The meeting follows Biden’s attendance at an October 2021 summit where he announced new $102 million initiatives to help these countries with COVID-19 and health security, climate change, economic growth and gender equality.
“Serving as a strong, reliable partner in Southeast Asia is a top priority for the Biden-Harris administration,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement on Saturday. “Our collective aspirations for the region will continue to underpin our collective commitment to advance a free and open, secure, connected and resilient Indo-Pacific.”
President Joe Biden speaks Thursday, April 14, 2022 at the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, NC. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) (AP)
The 10 members of ASEAN are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Its members have clashed over Myanmar, which has been plagued by violent unrest since the army overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February last year.
ASEAN is seeking to implement a five-point plan for Myanmar, which it achieved last year, which emphasizes dialogue, humanitarian assistance and an end to violence. But Myanmar’s ruling military council has delayed implementation of the plan even as the country has slipped into what some UN experts have dubbed a civil war.
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Myanmar’s lack of cooperation prompted ASEAN last year to bar its leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, from attending its annual summit, an unprecedented move for the body, whose members have traditionally avoided public criticism of one another and operated by consensus.
It has applied a similar policy to subsequent meetings, stating that it would allow Myanmar to send only non-political representatives.
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Biden invited Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for talks last month, during which the president sought to reassure Singapore and other Pacific allies that the government remains focused on the region even as it works with Europe and other allies to expand Russia’s end the invasion of Ukraine.