Blinken hails Thai aid in US push into Asia

Foreign Minister Antony Blinken on Sunday hailed Thailand’s role in the US’ renewed push into Southeast Asia, a key area of ​​competition with China, on a trip during which he also sought fresh ideas on restoring democracy to Myanmar.

Blinken signed an agreement in which it pledged to continue expanding ties, noting Thailand’s endorsement of a new US-led economic plan for Asia, as well as its efforts on climate change.

In Thailand, “We have such an important ally and partner for us in the Indo-Pacific in a region that is shaping the path of the 21st century, and it is doing so every day,” Blinken said after talks with Foreign Minister Don Pramuduwinai.

Thailand is America’s oldest ally in Asia, famously offering elephants to Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, but has also increasingly collaborated with an emerging China.

The US Secretary of State is visiting days after a visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who embarked on a broader tour of Southeast Asia during which he highlighted Beijing’s generous infrastructure spending.

The United States has identified China, with its authoritarian system and burgeoning technological and military resources, as its preeminent global rival, but both nations have recently attempted to bring the temperature down, with Wang and Blinken meeting in Bali on Saturday for an unusually long five hours .

Blinken, before flying to Bangkok late Saturday, said his talks with Wang were “constructive,” adding that the world’s two largest economies wanted to prevent their competition from spiraling out of control.

President Joe Biden invited Southeast Asian leaders to Washington in May to demonstrate US commitment to the region, even as the administration focuses on countering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Critics say the United States brings comparatively little to the table. Washington is deferring $40 billion, mostly in arms, to Ukraine, and China pledged $1.5 billion to Southeast Asia last year.

The Biden administration counters that flashy announcements of state funds have never been the US’s forte and that it prioritizes cooperation in specific areas such as public health, vaccination against Covid-19 and education – areas highlighted by Blinken in Bangkok have.

Blinken also met with Thailand-based youth leaders from Myanmar, where the military ousted the elected government in February 2021, slamming the door on a decades-long transition to democracy promoted by the United States.

Biden, who has prioritized promoting democracy, responded by imposing a series of sanctions on the junta, but has had limited success in pressuring a powerful military historically wary of outside influence.

ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, presented a plan in which the junta will involve the opposition more than a year ago, but there has been no progress.

In an unusual joint stance with the United States, Wang visited Myanmar last week and also encouraged the military to talk to opponents.

Blinken’s trip also marks a continued normalization of US relations with Thailand, where then-General Prayut Chan-O-Cha seized power in a 2014 coup and triggered US sanctions.

Blinken will later meet Prayut, who became prime minister in the 2019 election that heralded a gradual return to open political discourse in Thailand.

In a joint statement signed by Blinken and Don, the United States and Thailand called democracy “essential” to the idea of ​​the two countries of Asia.

“Strong democratic institutions, an independent civil society and free and fair elections are at the heart of this vision so that our respective societies can reach their full potential,” it said.

The statement addressed an issue high on the Biden administration’s priority that Washington and Bangkok would promote “open and inclusive societies” for LGBTQ people.

Blinken also hailed Thailand for signing a Biden plan to connect Southeast Asia with companies promoting green energy, saying companies had already pledged $2.7 billion to the country.