What is happening?
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken embarked on a ten-day diplomatic tour of Asia, visiting Laos, Vietnam, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, and Mongolia. His trip occurs during a heated election campaign in the United States but aligns deeply with Joe Biden’s foreign policy legacy and the Indo-Pacific strategy of the United States. Both aim to contain the power expansion of China (PRC) in areas and issues that could pose a significant threat to U.S. national security or jeopardize the current rules-based international order.
What is the broader picture?
During his eighteenth trip as Secretary of State to the Indo-Pacific region, Antony Blinken’s first stop was in Laos for the thirty-first ASEAN Regional Forum ministerial meeting in Vientiane. In addition to other discussions, Blinken had a behind-the-scenes meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (王毅). During his opening remarks, Blinken warned Yi that China’s support for Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine would not go without a U.S. response. However, he also praised the recently reached agreement between China and the Philippines regarding the resupply of the Sierra Madre on Second Thomas Shoal. This agreement significantly reduces tensions that could potentially escalate into an armed conflict between the two superpowers.
Blinken’s next stop was in Vietnam to attend the state funeral of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Nguyen Phu Trong, who significantly contributed to improving relations between Vietnam and the United States through his concept of “bamboo diplomacy.” In 2015, Trong became the first Vietnamese party chief to make a state visit to Washington, where he held talks with Barack Obama. Later, he hosted a summit between North Korea and the United States. In September 2023, Trọng and Biden upgraded relations between the two countries to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the highest possible level of mutual relations. Thus, Blinken’s attendance at his funeral was of considerable symbolic significance and displays the recent progress in bilateral relations amidst concerns of the PRC’s expansion in the South China Sea, where its territorial disputes with Vietnam remain unresolved.
In Japan, Blinken was joined by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Together with Japanese counterparts, they discussed recent progress on key reforms in command-control mechanisms within the U.S. and Japanese forces in the region (described in detail in the 21st edition of this briefing). These reforms are considered the most significant in decades. A further acceleration in the integration of the two nations’ armed forces was also announced, with a focus on areas of joint operations, military equipment, and nuclear deterrence. Leaders also confirmed the expansion of production and sharing of advanced AMRAAM air-to-air and PAC-3 surface-to-air missiles. While in Tokyo, Blinken later met with his counterparts from India, Australia, and Japan in a Quad format to discuss regional stability, and cyber and maritime security in the region.
In the Philippines, the two US ministers met their counterparts and President Marcos Jr., to whom they pledged an unprecedented half a billion dollars in financial assistance. The money will be used for strengthening the Philippine army and coastguard. Part of it will also be spent on improvements of maritime ports where US Navy ships will be docked in the future. Leaders also agreed to strengthen the forthcoming military intelligence sharing treaty, which is one of the key prerequisites for further military integration, intelligence sharing, and security cooperation between the two Pacific allies.
In Singapore, Blinken and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong reaffirmed the extensive security and economic cooperation between both allies and signed the “123 Agreement,” which addresses the potential use of nuclear technology in the areas of climate change and energy. This type of agreement is usually signed whenever the United States wants to export its nuclear technology. By signing it, the partner country commits to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and sets the necessary standards for control mechanisms in the use of nuclear technology.
Blinken then flew to Mongolia, where he met with the leaders of a country deeply wedged between authoritarian Russia and the PRC, and where the United States seeks to expand its influence. With this in mind, the two countries have launched the Comprehensive Strategic Dialogue mechanism to strengthen cooperation in many areas, including trade and defense.
Why is it important?
Through this journey, Blinken reaffirms the legacy of Joe Biden’s foreign policy towards the PRC and the Indo-Pacific, which is based primarily on multilateralism and the building of interconnected, ad-hoc partnerships and alliances. This strategy both multiplies US influence, presence, and extended deterrence in the Indo-Pacific, but also reinforces the legitimacy of the current rules-based international order, which the PRC has been consistently trying to challenge and which the United States has a vital interest in maintaining and preserving. Secondly, the diplomatic tour also reassures US allies in the region that, following Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race, the continuity of this policy, notwithstanding the ongoing election campaign and its possible outcome, is unchanged, at least for the time being.
