Dian Septiari

THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA

Indonesia said on Thursday that the United States’ proposed date for the special ASEAN-US summit later this month was “not ideal” for regional leaders, adding that both sides still needed to work on the substance of the much-anticipated meeting. 

The US announced last week that President Joe Biden would host Southeast Asian leaders on March 28 and 29 as part of his foreign policy drive in the Indo-Pacific region, but Cambodia, which is chairing ASEAN this year, suggested the event be delayed.

The Cambodian foreign minister confirmed that the meeting would be postponed to a later date because some ASEAN leaders could not be in Washington, DC, on the proposed days, Reuters reported. 

Indonesia, as the country coordinator for ASEAN-US relations, has been working closely with the US to organize the special summit to celebrate the 45th anniversary of US engagement with the regional organization. 

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah said it had not been easy for Indonesian officials to find a time for the summit that would accommodate the schedules of Biden and his Southeast Asian counterparts. 

“From our current assessment, the proposed date does not allow all ASEAN heads of state and government to participate. We think the proposed date is not yet ideal,” he told reporters on Thursday.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh was one of a few leaders who said they would be able to attend the summit on the proposed dates, but other leaders declined to respond to the White House’s public announcement last week. 

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi was still communicating with her US counterpart Antony Blinken and fellow ASEAN leaders to find a better time, according to her chief of staff, Achmad Rizal Purnama. 

“Apart from the date, there were also other concerns, including the substance, deliverables and programs, which are no less important. But in the beginning, it was mostly about timing,” he said. 

Faizasyah added that Indonesia believed it was also necessary for both ASEAN and the US to prepare more for these questions of substance.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said previously that a special summit with ASEAN member states was a top priority for the Biden administration “to serve as a strong, reliable partner and to strengthen an empowered and unified ASEAN to address the challenges of our time”.

Washington’s growing interest in engagement with Southeast Asia is part of its wider Indo-Pacific strategy, which is widely understood to be part of its efforts to contain China’s growing regional assertiveness. 

Several countries, such as Japan, Australia and India, have offered their perspectives on the region, as have the European Union and individual member states. Indonesia responded to this contest of strategies by proposing the adoption of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, which promotes an “open, inclusive, transparent and rules-based” order, with softer language on China than the statements of many other groups.

Now in his second year in office, Biden is seeking to make up for his predecessor Donald Trump’s lack of interest in the region, which alienated many regional leaders. The former president skipped most of the flagship ASEAN events during his term.

For the special summit, Southeast Asian leaders should go to Washington knowing what they want from the US, and the US should know what it can offer the region, said Dewi Fortuna Anwar, a senior researcher on international politics and foreign policy at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN).

“You cannot go to a summit empty handed. That is a Trump-style waste of time,” she said. 

Once set up, the summit is set to be the first time Biden meets with his Southeast Asian counterparts – with the likely exception of Myanmar’s ousted leader – since his inauguration last year.

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