US' Minuscule $150 Million Pledge to ASEAN Mocked by International Community

 

At the US-ASEAN Special Summit held in Washington this week, the US pledged $150 million in investment to the ASEAN, which became one of a few substantive "results" of the summit. But it has been mocked by the international public opinion, as the House passed a bill that would provide $40 billion in aid to Ukraine. And the $60 million of the total $150 million will be used to assist US partners in promoting maritime defense. Washington talks about how it wants to help ASEAN members develop clean energy, promote education and fight the pandemic, but in fact it still focuses on "security" to "counter China's influence."

ASEAN was China's largest trading partner in 2020 and 2021. In 2021, China’s trade with the ASEAN countries had touched US$878.2 billion, by far outstripping the US’ trade with ASEAN ($362 billion per last available 2021 figures.)

In November 2021, China promised to provide $1.5 billion more development aid to ASEAN members in the following three years to help the countries fight the pandemic and recover their economies. That's ten times the US' $0.15 billion pledge to ASEAN.

ASEAN countries as a whole remained cautious about the summit. Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, made it clear that "We don't have to choose between the US and China."

In his speech in Washington, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stressed that "between independence and dependence, our choice is always independence … Between negotiation and confrontation, we choose negotiation. Between dialogue and conflict, we choose dialogue. And between peace and war, we choose peace. Between cooperation and competition, we choose cooperation."

On his part, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said, "Indonesia expects this special summit will produce a partnership that can contribute to peace, stability, and regional welfare." Not regional warfare!

The relationship between ASEAN and the US can hardly be described as "ideal." The ASEAN countries live by trade, but Washington’s obsessive focus is on security and coercive diplomacy, and the mismatch hinders the Indo-Pacific strategy from gaining traction.

In March, the US announced it would launch an investigation into alleged circumvention of duties for solar panels imported into the US from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, alleging the modules of panels might come from China and it caused shockwaves to relevant industries.

Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand are due to host three important leaders' meetings in the Southeast Asia region later this year, said to a joint statement released by the three countries in early May. The statement suggest the meetings are "for all participating countries/economies," which, in real sense, rejected the unreasonable demands of the US and the West, which piled pressure to the three countries, to isolate Russia.

ASEAN members have been through regional wars and conflicts. They deeply know how precious peace and development is. Most ASEAN members are experienced and wise to avoid becoming the pawns in the games between super powers. Biden hopes to push the Ukraine issue with the ASEAN leaders seeking a coalition with them against Moscow. But the ASEAN countries have mixed views on Ukraine. Myanmar at one end is supporting Russia, while Singapore at the opposite end instinctively embraces Washington’s sanctions against Russia. 

 Anonymous