WASHINGTON – Washington hopes to rally Southeast Asian nations to take more durable motion towards Myanmar’s army junta and to push again on China’s actions within the South China Sea as prime US diplomat Antony Blinken heads to the area for conferences subsequent week, a State Department official mentioned on Friday.
Secretary of State Blinken will journey to Indonesia to take part in a gathering of international ministers from the ASEAN regional bloc after he joins President Joe Biden within the United Kingdom and in Lithuania for NATO conferences from Sunday to Wednesday.
Daniel Kritenbrink, the highest State Department official for East Asia, advised reporters that Myanmar, which was plunged into chaos by a 2021 army coup, could be “one of the key issues” mentioned in Jakarta.
ASEAN has barred Myanmar’s ruling generals from its high-level conferences, however Thailand has proposed re-engaging with the junta.
“We do expect our friends and partners in ASEAN … to continue to downgrade Myanmar’s representation in the ASEAN ministerial and we also look forward to finding ways to increase pressure on the regime to compel the regime to end its violence and return to a path of democracy,” Kritenbrink mentioned throughout a telephone name to preview the journey.
Washington final month issued sanctions towards two Myanmar banks utilized by the junta to transform international foreign money, in a transfer aimed toward lowering the army’s means to import weapons and materials for its crackdown on anti-coup forces.
Kritenbrink mentioned final week that international locations within the area ought to make progress in resolving maritime disputes with one another with a purpose to strengthen their collective voice in disputes with China within the South China Sea.
Kritenbrink mentioned on Friday that the US would work with ASEAN members in Jakarta to push again towards what he mentioned was “an upward trend of unhelpful and coercive and irresponsible Chinese actions.”
“It’s not a matter of getting countries on board with the US view, it’s a matter of working with our partners to advance our shared view and vision for the region, and to push back on behavior that runs counter to that vision,” he mentioned. — Reuters
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
