In his first meeting with ASEAN foreign ministers, Blinken emphasized shared interests and Washington’s commitment to the regional body’s “centrality” in shaping the broader Indo-Pacific security architecture. He also urged a coordinated response to the unfolding crisis in Myanmar, while categorically rejecting China’s “unlawful” maritime claims in the South China Sea.
As for China’s “vaccine diplomacy,” the US also reassured the region that millions of American-made Covid-19 vaccines were on the way. Regional leaders have welcomed Blinken’s belated diplomatic outreach as a reassuring sign of “refreshed commitment” from the Biden administration, which spent much of its early months in office cultivating defense and strategic ties with major Indo-Pacific powers as well as European allies.
