Antony Blinken to court Southeast Asia in virtual meetings next week

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet virtually with Southeast Asian officials every day next week, a senior state department official said on Saturday, as Washington seeks to show the region it is a US priority while also addressing the crisis in Myanmar.

The top US diplomat will attend virtual meetings for five consecutive days, including annual meetings of the 10 foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and other nations and separate meetings of the Lower Mekong subregion countries Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand.

“I think it’s a clear demonstration of our commitment to the region,” said the official, who briefed Reuters on condition of anonymity.

In recent years top US officials have not always attended Asean meetings and have sometimes sent more junior officials to the region’s summits.

The virtual meetings come after the Biden administration in its early days was seen as paying little attention to the region of more than 600 million people, which is often overshadowed by neighbouring economic giant China, which the administration sees as its major foreign policy challenge.

But that has been partly addressed by recent visits to the region. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman visited Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand in May and June, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin was in Vietnam and the Philippines this week, and Vice-President Kamala Harris is set to visit Singapore and Vietnam.