The White House has pledged $150 million for new projects in the area that promote infrastructure construction and combat climate change
Never in its 45-year history has the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met in the United States, but this week it was its turn. Before Ukraine monopolized international reality, President Joe Biden had started his presidency with a focus on Asia, convinced that his country could not lose influence in the region in the face of China’s advances.
None of the eight leaders invited to Washington for the two-day summit — Myanmar has been ruled out by last year’s coup and the Philippines in a transition of power — had the slightest intent to pick a team in that titanic battle for power. to conquer the world. The desire of some and others translates into a shower of economic aid that represented $150 million at this summit for new projects that promote infrastructure construction and the fight against climate change, in addition to facilitating maritime traffic.
What started with resentment on the part of Cambodia, annoyed by the lack of availability of the US president to honor his guests with bilateral meetings, eventually became the moment of reconciliation. Prime Minister Hum Sen, who has ruled the country since 1985, initially asked his host for “more generosity” but ended by saying that relations between his country and the United States are now the best in history.
Hun Sen even wanted to take the opportunity to express his condolences to the million Americans who have died from Covid and invited him to a summit in his country. A necessary gesture to coincide his visit with that suffering figure of one million deaths from the coronavirus and because he has received from the White House three million doses of the vaccine manufactured by Johnson & Johnson labs, in addition to four others who committed.
As for travel, Biden has his sights set on his next visit to Japan and South Korea late next week. The five-day trip will also serve to meet the leaders of the Quad, the group of Indo-Pacific democracies that includes Australia and India in addition to the United States and Japan.
Biden doesn’t want China to think that the war in Ukraine has caused it to lose focus on Asian conquest, but the truth is that Ukraine is also at the center of this summit. Only Singapore has categorically condemned the Russian invasion, so the White House decided to use this summit to indoctrinate its Pacific neighbors about the need to stop Russia and how important the unity of the international community is.
Source: La Verdad
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