Biden Vows To Stand With Southeast Asia In Defending Freedom Of Seas, Democracy
NDTV
Joe Biden also joined Southeast Asian leaders in rebuking Myanmar's junta and backed efforts to hold it accountable to its commitments to peace.
President Joe Biden said on Wednesday the United States would stand with Southeast Asian allies in defending freedom of the seas, democracy and human rights and backed efforts to hold the Myanmar junta accountable to its commitments to peace.
Southeast Asia has become a strategic battleground between the United States and China, which controls most of the South China Sea and has turned up military and political pressure on fiercely democratic Taiwan, a self-ruled island it considers its own.
Australia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed on Wednesday at a virtual regional summit to establish a "comprehensive strategic partnership", a sign of Canberra's ambition to play a bigger role in the region.
Biden joined Southeast Asian leaders in rebuking Myanmar's junta as the summit opened on Tuesday without a representative from the country following its top general's exclusion for ignoring peace proposals.
