Nikkei Asia - Subtle threat to ASEAN: US indifference to Indonesia and Thailand

U.S. President Joe Biden has only just begun to make diplomatic moves toward ASEAN. (Nikkei montage/AP/Ken Kobayashi) via Nikkei Asia.

“BANGKOK -- Six months after President Joe Biden was inaugurated, the U.S. has finally begun its latest diplomatic overtures to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attended virtual foreign ministerial meetings on July 14 and Aug. 4 while last week ASEAN invited representatives from nonmember countries to discuss security in a series of meetings.

Blinken attended the meetings on all of the dates until Friday, when the ASEAN Regional Forum -- another online event -- was convened, attended by representatives from Japan, China, India, Russia and the European Union and so on.

Southeast Asia has become the latest front of the coronavirus pandemic and has been hit hard by the delta variant, pushing important meetings online. But virtual meetings lack the weight of traditional face-to-face diplomacy, despite providing a needed venue for talks.”

Toru Takahashi writes for Nikkei Asia.

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