President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris managed to host the first Summit of U.S. and ASEAN nations (the ten Southeast Asian nations) in Washington without achieving anything, while leaving the heads of state and government generally disgusted with the lack of any substance and the harping against China and Russia.
Biden declared a “new era” in U.S.-ASEAN relations, issued a 28-point “vision statement” with no content, while offering a paltry $150 million in assistance, typically without any development aid. Even the $40 billion portion described as “infrastructure” is only to “decarbonize the energy sector.” Otherwise, $60 billion is for “maritime security” (with the additional offer to send a U.S. Coast Guard vessel to the region—that will keep those nasty Chinese out of the South China Sea!); $15 billion for health; and some funds to develop laws regarding the digital economy—probably for rooting out the dastardly fake news from Russia and China.
The final communiqué said nothing about Russia or China, and only called for “respect for sovereignty, political independence, and territorial integrity” in Ukraine.
