Biden announces $102 mn in funding to strengthen US-ASEAN strategic partnership

United States President Joe Biden on Tuesday, October 26 announced the plans to provide up to $102 million to expand the US strategic partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). According to the White House factsheet of the virtual summit of the US with the ten-nation bloc, the US funding of more than $100 to enhance the country’s partnership with ASEAN will go towards health, climate, economic and education programs. It also stated that Biden underscored the importance of US-ASEAN strategic partnership. 

While Biden said, “We intend to launch a new program and initiatives to enhance our cooperation across the range of issues totalling more than $100 million,” the factsheet released by White House detailed that out of the total amount, $40 million will go to an initiative addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and ASEAN’s ability to respond to future infectious diseases. The factsheet also said that up to 20.5 million is dedicated to “tackling the climate crisis and keeping the urgent goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach.”

At the US-ASEAN summit, Biden said, “Our bottom line is that ASEAN is essential, I want to say — it is essential to the regional architecture of the Indo-Pacific.”

“And the United States is committed to ASEAN’s centrality.  You know, it’s a linchpin.  It’s a linchpin for maintaining the resilience, the prosperity, and security of our shared region,” he added.

Biden criticised Myanmar violence

Meanwhile, according to the readout of the US-ASEAN virtual summit released by the White House, Biden denounced the military coup and “horrific coup” in Myanmar. The official release stated that at the virtual meet, US President “expressed grave concerns about the military coup and horrific violence in Burma and called on the country's military regime to immediately end the violence, release those unjustly detained, and restore Burma's path to democracy. He expressed support for ASEAN efforts to hold the Burmese military regime accountable to the Five Point Consensus.”

Biden’s remarks came as Myanmar’s military government following a coup in February boycotted the ASEAN summit which was hosted by Brunei. The latest action by the junta against the ten-nation-bloc came after the Myanmar military chief was banned in response to the February takeover of power followed by a deadly crackdown on dissent.

(Image: AP)