Washington urged to do more to support ASEAN

Security cooperation

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has said that the "new economic framework" includes adjusting export controls to "limit exports of 'sensitive' products to China". US Trade Representative Katherine Tai has even publicly declared that the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework is "an arrangement independent of China".

As a result, Biden is expected to peddle this framework Indo-Pacific Economic Framework at the summit, which is expected to cover security cooperation between the two sides and may disturb the balance China has struck with ASEAN over the South China Sea.

Kurt Campbell, coordinator for Indo-Pacific Affairs in the National Security Council, who is an assistant to Biden and a major adviser on Washington's China policy, has urged the US to deepen its cooperation and engagement with ASEAN in an all-around manner, which should not only include economic affairs and diplomacy, but also security.

ASEAN countries are well aware of the costs of "going around the sun to meet the moon", and Lee has warned the US that once it decouples its economy from that of China, the economic costs to Washington will be enormous.

His remarks are a clear demonstration of the stance of not taking sides, and a further reminder of the need for the US to increase its economic input in the Asia-Pacific region. In other words, Southeast Asian nations are looking for an inclusive and positive economic agenda. The summit will by no means be a solo act, with the US preaching its agenda, but an occasion for ASEAN to kick the ball back into Washington's court.

ASEAN and China have further upgraded their economic and trade cooperation within the framework of the newly signed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, agreement. Their collaboration on promoting common development of the region has been ceaseless on the various bilateral and multilateral platforms they have formed since building a dialogue mechanism more than 30 years ago.

For example, take cooperation between ASEAN and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, whose capital Nanning is the permanent host of the annual China-ASEAN Expo. This bilateral cooperation has gone far beyond the previous small-scale border trade of agricultural produce－entering a new stage that features comprehensive collaboration on trade, industry, talent, technology, governance, education and culture.