After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the United States put pressure on many countries to jointly sanction Russia. But most countries in Asia have only called for a ceasefire as soon as possible, not condemned Russia's actions.
As a result, the U.S. government has been "announcing" that it will hold a special U.S.-ASEAN summit in 2022, but it has been made clear that only a handful of countries will participate, resulting in repeated postponements of the summit, which is very embarrassing.
On April 19, the Chinese Foreign Ministry held a regular press conference.
Bloomberg reporter: "US President Biden will host the U.S.-ASEAN special summit in Washington from May 12 to 13, and the relevant statement of the White House said that the US government is committed to promoting the construction of a free, open, secure, connected and resilient Indo-Pacific. ”
Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said: "At present, the overall peace, stability and development of the Asia-Pacific region is worthy of great cherishing by all parties. The Asia-Pacific region is a hot land for cooperation and development, not a chessboard for the great power game. ”
ASEAN countries are the "standard-bearers" for promoting regional development and prosperity, not the "pawns" of geopolitical competition.
In fact, under such circumstances, the United States should comply with the common voice of Asia-Pacific countries for peace, cooperation, and win-win results, respect the political systems, development paths, and cultural values of Asian countries when participating in East Asian regional cooperation, abide by the "ASEAN way" of openness, inclusiveness, and consensus, implement the commitment to support ASEAN's central position with practical actions, abandon the Cold War mentality and the "Indo-Pacific" confrontation circle, and do more things conducive to peace, development, and prosperity in the region, instead of forcing other countries to act as "marionettes" under the Star-Spangled Banner.
ASEAN.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), abbreviated as ASEAN, was established on August 8, 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with its secretariat in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. Currently, ASEAN has 10 member countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam. The total area of the member states of the Union is about 4.49 million square kilometers, with a population of 660 million.
In 2003, China-ASEAN established a strategic partnership. At the series of foreign ministers' meetings on East Asian cooperation, China and ASEAN countries reached a consensus on the 2030 Vision of China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership, which will build a new framework for cooperation with the three pillars of political security, economy and trade, and people-to-people exchanges as the main line and multi-field cooperation as the support. On November 22, 2021, China-ASEAN upgraded from a "strategic partnership" to a "comprehensive strategic partnership".
On November 22, 2021, President Xi Jinping attended and chaired the 30th Anniversary Summit of China-ASEAN Dialogue Relations in Beijing by video, delivering an important speech entitled "Destiny and Building a Homeland Together". China-ASEAN officially announced the establishment of a "comprehensive strategic partnership".
ASEAN's relationship with the United States has gone through three phases, from the end of World War II to 1977, from 1977 to 1989, and from the 1990s to the present. The relationship between the two is the hope that ASEAN will receive economic and military support from the United States, which the United States regards as a "pawn" in geopolitical competition.
The White House website published a screenshot of the statement about the U.S.-ASEAN special summit.
White House Press Secretary Psaki said in a statement that the special summit would showcase america's enduring commitment to ASEAN. America's top priority is to "become a strong and reliable partner in Southeast Asia."
Whether the truth is really as the United States said, it will fulfill its commitment to achieve a good strategic partnership with Southeast Asian countries is worth examining, for the United States, what has always been pursued is " there are no eternal friends, only eternal interests."
Agence France-Presse also said ASEAN plays a key role in the U.S. strategy against China, and the summit is likely to focus on issues such as China's rise.
Why can't the United States wait to host this summit?
In fact, the United States is based on its own actual situation and immediate interests, rather than its claim to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the development of relations between the United States and ASEAN, and it is not sincere in promoting the development of Southeast Asian countries.
The United States, as the driving force behind the Conflict between Russia and Ukraine in the international community, has repeatedly failed in its calculations, while the new crown epidemic in China continues to spread. The dilemma of internal and external difficulties is intertwined, forcing the US government to do some "achievements" to calm the people's grievances. At this special summit, the Biden administration's vain attempt to "kill two birds with one stone" can not only establish the image of great power diplomacy, but also use coercion or coercion to make ASEAN countries condemn Russia, incidentally repeating the clichéd "China threat theory".
As the saying goes, "Sima Zhao's heart is well known to passers-by!" "The fundamental purpose of the special summit planned by the United States is to suppress and contain China." The essence of this "Hongmen Banquet" summit is that the United States, under the current complex international situation, is trying to win over ASEAN and force it to take sides on Issues such as Sino-US relations, the "Indo-Pacific Strategy," and even the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. However, the United States itself should have reasonable expectations about the difficulty of achieving this goal.
How will the United States brush up on the "sense of existence" this time?
The usual trick used by the United States is nothing more than to give small favors or give a large amount of verbal benefits without substantive action. This deceptive trick has long been seen through by many righteous countries, and it is a bit unmoving. Many countries are only forced by the strong military and economic power of the United States to succumb to its obscenity.
Of course, today is different from the past, and if the United States wants to persuade all participating countries to confront other countries, I am afraid it is also a fool's dream. It is just that since the US leaders have vigorously held this summit, they will not achieve nothing, but they will not be able to step down on their own. The aging Biden is likely to adopt "bundled sales" and come up with a package to push ASEAN countries into the fire pit.
Previously, the U.S.-ASEAN special summit, which was scheduled for March 28-29, was postponed indefinitely. Recently, the White House once again announced that US President Biden will hold a special summit from May 12 to 13.
How to deal with U.S. provocations?
In recent years, ASEAN has been seeking new partnerships and deepening third-party pragmatic cooperation to reduce its over-dependence on the United States and expand its own development space. France and Italy have become ASEAN development partners, the United Kingdom has become a partner in ASEAN dialogue, and ASEAN and the EU have upgraded to a strategic partnership... These are all responses taken by ASEAN.
(Produced by Rednet Burning Youth Studio)