• The U.S. has made the Quad, a framework for cooperation with Japan, Australia and India, a centrepiece of its Asia policy. To make the de facto encirclement of China more effective, Washington must gain the cooperation of the ASEAN countries, the geographic centre of the Indo-Pacific region.
• While ASEAN is concerned about its growing dependence on China, it also has a deep-seated sense of caution about the Biden administration’s focus on human rights diplomacy.
• The U.S. has demonstrated its will to counter China’s influence in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as the Biden administration’s foreign policy toward countries in the bloc starts to take shape.
Link: https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/The-Nikkei-View/US-must-urgently-regain-Southeast-Asia-s-trust