US will not lose sight of its Indo-Pacific strategy despite Xi-Putin stand over Ukraine: Biden diplomat

Daniel Kritenbrink says engagement in Indo-Pacific is ‘central to the peace, prosperity and security of not only the United States but the entire world’
US has ‘no intention’ of engaging with China over its forthcoming economic framework, assistant secretary of state says

Ukraine

Laura Zhou

Published: 6:45pm, 17 Feb 2022

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The recent joint stand by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping over Ukraine posed a great challenge that the US could not dismiss, but Washington would keep its focus on the Indo-Pacific region, a senior US diplomat said.

The US commitment to the region would not be affected despite the more immediate crisis at the Russia-Ukraine border that many fear could trigger Europe’s biggest ground war in decades, Daniel Kritenbrink, US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, told reporters on Thursday.

“The stakes are high when we look at the crisis in Ukraine,” Kritenbrink said when asked about the impact of the situation in eastern Europe on the Indo-Pacific strategy.

“We look at the recent statement by President Putin and President Xi. We can’t dismiss the challenge that the vision they put forward opposes our approach to the region and to the world.”

02:25

China’s Xi Jinping 'paying close attention' to Russia-Ukraine crisis

When Xi and Putin declared the “no limits” strategic partnership between their two countries this month, they also voiced opposition against further expansion of Nato, a key concern for Moscow in the stand-off with the US and its allies over Ukraine.

Although Ukraine and the European Union were not mentioned, the long joint statement was widely seen as Xi’s strongest endorsement so far of Putin’s confrontation with the West, even though Beijing has repeatedly called for direct talks and consultation to resolve the crisis.

There have been deep worries in the Indo-Pacific that a war in Europe may draw US diplomatic and military resources away from the region, where Washington’s credibility has often been questioned, particularly after former president Donald Trump’s administration pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a mega trade agreement the US helped craft as a counterweight to China.

What is the ‘Indo-Pacific’ and why does the US keep using this term?

In the new Indo-Pacific strategy announced on Friday, the Biden administration pledged to commit to sustained diplomatic and security engagement in the region, including expanding the US Coast Guard presence and stronger regional alliances, to counter what it views as Beijing’s aggressive and coercive behaviour in the East and South China seas, as well as towards Taiwan.

The 12-page document also includes a plan to launch an Indo-Pacific Economic Framework in early 2022, in which the US aims to work closely with its allies and partners on a wide range of issues, from the digital economy, supply chain security and green technology to high-standard infrastructure, to counter China’s expanding economic clout in the region.

02:30

Xi meets with Putin ahead of Beijing Winter Olympics opening ceremony

Kritenbrink said the US, while working on resolving the Ukraine crisis, would continue to “vigorously pursue strategic engagement” in the Indo-Pacific, which he said was “absolutely central to the peace, prosperity and security of not only the United States but the entire world”.

He said the US had “no intention” of engaging with China over the forthcoming economic framework.

“It’s safe to say that we are engaged in initial conversations with partners across the region, who share our vision for the kind of region that we want to live in again, a free and open region in which countries are free from coercion and are able to pursue their economic and security interests freely in an unhindered fashion,” he said.