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Blinken’s visit to six Asian countries shows that Washington is fully focused on the Indo-Pacific
Reporter : Chen Ting / Editor : Ye Ziwei / https://www.epochtimes.com/b5/24/7/25/n14298161.htm / Image : On 17 July 2024, U.S. Secretary of State Blinken spoke to the media before meeting with the Mexican Foreign Minister at the State Department. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
U.S. Secretary of State Blinken will begin a 10-day visit to six Asian countries on Thursday (25 July 2024). Senior U.S. officials said the visit showed that the United States is fully committed to the Indo-Pacific region and has returned the focus to the United States' largest strategic rival, the Chinese Communist Party.
Daniel Kritenbrink is the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. He told a symposium at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) on Wednesday that the visit to Laos, Vietnam, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore and Mongolia was one of the longest overseas trips by a US secretary of state to date and demonstrated Washington's commitment to "Full commitment" in the Indo-Pacific region.
"We are building a grid-like structure ... an interlocking network of formal and informal relationships that promote our common interests across the region," Conda said.
"When the secretary leaves, he will demonstrate our full support for ASEAN and our partnership throughout the region," he said.
Outlining the itinerary and goals for Blinken and other officials over the next 10 days, he said: "We fundamentally believe that the future security and prosperity of the United States are inextricably linked to the Indo-Pacific, so we are connecting and partnering in the region. Relationships have been elevated to unprecedented heights.”
"We have made substantial investments that have tangible benefits to the people of the region and to Americans," he said.
In the 2022 Indo-Pacific Strategy, the Biden administration promised to pay attention to "every corner" of the Indo-Pacific region. However, conflicts in Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Israel have made it difficult for the U.S. government to exert its influence.
Analysts believe that after Biden decides to withdraw from the re-election campaign in 2024, he will focus the rest of his term on diplomatic issues. Against this background, Blinken’s series of visits to Asia indicate that the United States’ attention is returning to its largest strategic rival, the Chinese Communist Party.
At the seminar, Mira Rapp-Hooper, director of Indo-Pacific strategy at the White House National Security Council, said that the U.S. government hopes that small multilateral groups in the region, such as the United States, Japan, India and Australia, will The Quad, the US-Japan-ROK Group and the US-Japan-Philippines Group can influence each other and jointly defend the rules-based international order.
She said the U.S. strategy is to build collective capabilities with allies and partners and encourage them to work with the United States in new ways.
"Many allies and partners have done more than we expected three years ago," Rapp-Hooper said.
"This is essentially building a new regional architecture to help strengthen the Indo-Pacific region to deal with various challenges, whether it's from the PRC (Chinese Communist Party), North Korea, climate change, or various other threats and challenges," she said.
She said that this outlines the outline of a successful Indo-Pacific strategy, that is, through cooperation between the United States and its allies, it can ensure freedom, openness and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, and requires the Chinese Communist Party to act in accordance with international rules.
Ahead of his trip, Blinken participated in a Thursday meeting between Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Subsequently, Blinken rushed to Vietnam to pay tribute to the late General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell has repeatedly compared Vietnam to a "critical swing state" in the Indo-Pacific region. Vietnam's support is an important factor in the U.S.-CCP China competition for influence in the Indo-Pacific.
In Laos, Blinken will hold talks with Chinese Communist Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
On Sunday, Blinken will hold "two plus two" talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Austin in Tokyo to strengthen the U.S.-Japan alliance. South Korea also stated that he will go to Tokyo to participate in the trilateral security meeting of the US, Japan and South Korea defense ministers.
Next Tuesday, Blinken will visit the Philippines with Austin to hold the second "two plus two" meeting. This is the fourth time the United States and the Philippines have held the "two plus two" talks, and it is also the first time it has been held in Manila.
At the AEI seminar, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner said that this is Austin’s 11th trip to the Indo-Pacific during his tenure.
"These ten days are extremely important for our defense relations in the Indo-Pacific region," Ratner said.
Ratner said that the United States and Japan will discuss Japan's military posture, "especially in the Southwest Islands, and consider how to expand cooperation there."
The Southwest Islands of Japan are an island chain extending southwest from the Kyushu region of Japan to Taiwan. The westernmost Yonaguni Island is only 110 kilometers away from Taiwan. The increased activities in this area must be to curb the growing military threat of the Chinese Communist Party.
Blinken will attend a Quad foreign ministers meeting in Tokyo next Monday. The meeting is expected to strengthen cooperation in a wide range of areas including maritime, cybersecurity, disinformation and will pave the way for a Quad leaders' summit to be held in India later this year.
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