As part of the major economic and diplomatic meetings this month, the U.S. State Department prepared a long-awaited summary of its relations with the nations of the IndoPacific region. The New York Analysis of Policy and Government presents key excerpts, starting with the State Department’s overall perspective.
In November 2017 in Vietnam, President Trump outlined a vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific in which all countries prosper side by side as sovereign, independent states. That vision, shared with billions of people in more than 35 countries and economies, is based on values that have underpinned peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific for generations. Free, fair, and reciprocal trade, open investment environments, good governance, and freedom of the seas are goals shared by all who wish to prosper in a free and open future.
■ The United States remains deeply engaged in the Indo-Pacific region and committed to its prosperity. With $1.9 trillion in two-way trade, our futures are inextricably intertwined. U.S. government agencies, businesses, and institutions are spurring private sector investment and gainful employment in infrastructure, energy, and the digital economy, strengthening civil society and democratic institutions, countering transnational threats, and investing in human capital across the Indo-Pacific.
■ The United States, our allies, and our partners are at the forefront of preserving the free and open regional order. All nations have a shared responsibility to uphold the rules and values that underpin a free and open Indo-Pacific. We are increasing the tempo and scope of our work with allies, partners, and regional institutions such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Mekong states, the Pacific Island countries, and our strategic partner India to address shared challenges and advance a shared vision.
■ The United States’ Indo-Pacific strategy is driving a tangible increase in resources devoted to the Indo-Pacific region. Since the start of the Trump Administration, the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have provided the region with over $4.5 billion in foreign assistance. This has been augmented by hundreds of billions more in development financing, investment by U.S. firms, and other sources. We are investing new resources, launching new programs, and building new partnerships to ensure a safe, prosperous, and dynamic future for the region.
In recent decades, the Indo-Pacific has undergone a remarkable transformation. As hundreds of millions of people climbed out of poverty, the region has become home to world-class companies and an important engine of global economic growth. This transformation was possible because a free and open regional order ensured stability and a level playing field on which countries could grow and prosper as sovereign, independent states.
[The United States] is committed to upholding a free and open IndoPacific in which all nations, large and small, are secure in their sovereignty and able to pursue economic growth consistent with international law and principles of fair competition. We will compete vigorously against attempts to limit the autonomy and freedom of choice of Indo-Pacific nations.
Competition, however, is not conflict. Rather, it can prevent conflict and elevate the performance of all. The United States and our partners believe that the best way to prevent conflict is to reinforce the values that supported the Indo-Pacific region’s remarkable progress.
We have a fundamental interest in ensuring that the future of the Indo-Pacific is one of freedom and openness rather than coercion and corruption. The United States is the largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Indo-Pacific. In 2018, we conducted over $1.9 trillion in two-way trade with the region, supporting more than 3 million jobs in the United States and 5.1 million jobs in the Indo-Pacific. All five of our non-NATO bilateral defense alliances are in the Indo-Pacific. We are also the largest donor of foreign assistance in the region, contributing $2 trillion in constant dollars since the end of World War II.
The U.S. vision for the Indo-Pacific excludes no nation. We do not ask countries to choose between one partner or another. Instead, we ask that they uphold the core principles of the regional order at a time when these principles are under renewed threat.
The United States is strengthening and deepening partnerships with countries that share our values. Our alliances with Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, and Thailand have helped sustain peace and security for generations. ASEAN sits at the geographical center of the Indo-Pacific and is central to our vision. Our strategic partnership with India, a fellow democracy of 1.3 billion people that shares our vision for the Indo-Pacific, is reaching new heights. We are joining with the Mekong states, Pacific Island countries, South Asian nations, Taiwan, and many others to face emerging challenges. In September 2019, the first ministerial-level meeting of the United States, Australia, India, and Japan at the Quadrilateral Consultations marked a new milestone for our diplomatic engagement in the region.
MULTILATERAL ENGAGEMENT
A strong, rules-based architecture anchors the U.S. vision for the Indo-Pacific region. Representing ten countries, 650 million people, and a combined GDP of almost $3 trillion, ASEAN is central to this architecture. ASEAN is most effective when it speaks with one voice about pressing political and security issues, and it took an important step in this regard with the June 2019 release of its “Outlook on the Indo-Pacific.” We see a clear convergence between the principles enshrined in ASEAN’s Indo-Pacific Outlook— inclusivity, openness, good governance, and respect for international law—and the vision of the United States for a free and open Indo-Pacific, as well as the regional approaches of our allies, partners, and friends. The United States supports ASEAN’s efforts to ensure that all Indo-Pacific countries, regardless of their size, have equal stake in determining the future of the region. U.S. technical assistance strengthens capacity in the energy sector; promotes shared approaches to cybersecurity and digital trade; creates opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises; and encourages women and youth innovators and entrepreneurs. U.S. programs also support the ASEAN Economic Community by reducing the cost of doing business and streamlining trade, while a new partnership between U.S. and ASEAN cities will help realize smart improvements in transportation and water security.
While ASEAN serves as the backbone of regional political and security discussions, “minilateral” engagements offer nimble ways to coordinate with like-minded partners. Through the Trilateral Strategic Dialogue, the United States has significantly deepened our engagement with Japan and Australia on many issues, including sustainable infrastructure development, maritime security, and counterterrorism. Leaders from the United States, India, and Japan met in November 2018 and June 2019 to promote shared fundamental values such as freedom, democracy, and the rule of law, and to exchange views on pressing security and economic issues. All four countries elevated their Quadrilateral Consultation to the ministerial level in September 2019.
BILATERAL PARTNERSHIPS
The U.S. vision and approach in the Indo-Pacific region aligns closely with Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific concept, India’s Act East Policy, Australia’s Indo-Pacific concept, the Republic of Korea’s New Southern Policy, and Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy.
We are working with Japan to improve energy and infrastructure under the Japan-U.S. Strategic Energy Partnership (JUSEP) and Japan-U.S. Strategic Digital Economy Partnership (JUSDEP) from the Indo-Pacific Being mentally healthy is http://icks.org/n/data/ijks/1482461379_add_file_1.pdf cialis cheap canada very important for us. Website link directories, although canadian sildenafil http://icks.org/n/data/ijks/1482456353_add_file_1.pdf not what they tell you they are. Mast Mood oil is developed using herbal ingredients like Tulsi, Jawadi Kasturi, Jaiphal, Javitri, Dalchini, Ashwagandha, Kapur, Nirgundi, Samudra Phal, Sona Patha, Nirgundi, Dalchini, Javitri, Jawadi, Kapur, Tulsi, Bueylu Oil and Kasturi are the key ingredients of Mast Mood capsules: Abhrak Bhasma, Ras Sindoor, Valvading, female viagra canada Himalcherry, Girji, Sudh Shilajeet, Umbelia, Lauh Bhasma, Embelia Ribes, Adrijatu. There are also other requirements for PTDE courses, for instance the whole course time can comprises sixty six hours (32 in course of study and thirty four hours in behind the wheel apply. viagra sales in india to the east coast of Africa. Our commitment of $29 million for energy development in the Mekong region in support of Asia EDGE (Enhancing Development and Growth through Energy) will further strengthen this partnership, as will the alignment of U.S. investment with the Japanese government’s target of $10 billion in public and private investment and capacity building.
We are working with the Republic of Korea to expand development collaboration across the Indo-Pacific region through a memorandum of understanding signed September 30 between USAID and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). A joint statement released with the Republic of Korea in November will build on governance and law enforcement programming, increase water security cooperation in the Mekong region, and deepen the links across our infrastructure finance and cybersecurity agencies to jointly invest in human capital across the region.
We are also strengthening and deepening our relationship with Taiwan. We have repeatedly expressed our concern over Beijing’s actions to bully Taiwan through military maneuvers, economic pressure, constraints on its international space, and poaching of its diplomatic partners. These actions undermine the cross-Strait status quo that has benefitted both sides of the Strait for decades.
Consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act, the United States supports an effective deterrence capability for Taiwan. In 2019, the Trump Administration approved and notified Congress of potential sales of critical defense equipment totaling more than $10 billion Through the American Institute in Taiwan, we worked together to convene hundreds of Indo-Pacific policymakers and experts on issues including public health, women’s empowerment, media disinformation, and the digital economy. We also co-hosted the first-ever Pacific Islands Dialogue in October 2019 to explore areas of cooperation among like-minded partners in the Pacific Islands.
As a major exporter, trader, and investor in Southeast Asia, the United States is committed to engagement with ASEAN member states. ASEAN collectively remains the United States’ fourth largest export market, while Thailand and Singapore are two of the six fastest growing sources of foreign direct investment in the United States. In maritime Southeast Asia, U.S. companies have been selected to participate in the “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure initiative in the Philippines as we deepen our security partnership. The opening of a new U.S. Embassy in Jakarta in early 2019 highlighted our strategic partnership with the world’s third largest democracy and largest Muslim-majority nation, and we remain committed to the sustainable development of Timor-Leste, one of the world’s newest democracies. In Malaysia, the United States has worked locally to support the government’s reform efforts, including with a two-year program launched this year for transparency and accountability reforms.
In mainland Southeast Asia, we supported Thailand’s chairmanship of ASEAN and continue to deepen our partnership with Vietnam, who will chair ASEAN in 2020. The Mekong region of Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand, and Vietnam is strategically important to the United States. This region is facing new challenges that put autonomy and economic independence at risk, including debt dependency, a spree of dam-building that concentrates control over downstream flows, plans to blast and dredge riverbeds, extraterritorial river patrols, increasing organized crime and trafficking, and a push by some to mold new rules to govern the river in ways that undermine existing institutions.
Over the last 10 years, U.S. government agencies have provided over $3.8 billion in assistance to the countries of the Mekong. This has helped strengthen local human capital to better address transboundary challenges on water security, smart hydropower, energy and infrastructure planning, and education. We are also strong supporters of the Ayeyawady-Chao PhrayaMekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS), an inclusive cooperation framework to support the development of this important region.
Our engagement with Pacific Island nations rose to unprecedented levels with President Trump’s historic Oval Office meeting with the three Presidents of the Freely Associated States on May 21, 2019; the Secretary of the Interior’s attendance at the annual Pacific Islands Forum Partners Dialogue in 2018 and 2019; Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie’s attendance at the inauguration of Micronesian President Panuelo in July 2019; and Secretary Pompeo’s historic visit to the Federated States of Micronesia in August 2019.
In September 2019, the United States announced a new $100 million “Pacific Pledge.” This assistance is in addition to the approximately $350 million annually that U.S. agencies invest in projects, assistance, and operations to build a more prosperous future for the people of the region. As part of the Pacific Pledge, USAID plans to provide more than $62 million in new programs over the next year, more than doubling development assistance over prior years. This year, the United States also made an initial grant to the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB’s) Pacific Region Infrastructure Facility (PRIF) to support infrastructure planning in the Pacific Islands. In addition, USAID will expand its staff presence in Fiji, Papua New Guinea (PNG), the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Palau.
In September 2019, the United States announced a new $100 million “Pacific Pledge.” This assistance is in addition to the approximately $350 million annually that U.S. agencies invest in projects, assistance, and operations to build a more prosperous future for the people of the region. As part of the Pacific Pledge, USAID plans to provide more than $62 million in new programs over the next year, more than doubling development assistance over prior years. This year, the United States also made an initial grant to the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB’s) Pacific Region Infrastructure Facility (PRIF) to support infrastructure planning in the Pacific Islands. In addition, USAID will expand its staff presence in Fiji, Papua New Guinea (PNG), the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Palau.
The United States is also increasing bilateral engagement with South Asian partners. We are helping Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Maldives equip and train their navies and coast guards to safeguard strategic sea lines of communication, combat human trafficking, prevent illegal fishing, disrupt drug smuggling, and respond to natural disasters. Piracy and thefts have dropped by 70 percent in the Bay of Bengal thanks to the Bangladesh Navy and Coast Guard utilizing boats procured under various U.S. programs as well as U.S. training
We have helped United Nations (UN) peacekeepingcontributing states like Bangladesh and Nepal become more effective by providing equipment, such as the Unmanned Aircraft System we transferred to Bangladesh, and by providing training for these partners’ senior military officers at American professional military education schools.
The United States is enhancing the counterterrorism capacity of our South Asian partners through hands-on investigative assistance, such as the deployment of FBI investigators to Sri Lanka after the ISIS-inspired terrorist attacks on Easter Sunday, as well as helping to prevent attacks through enhanced border control processes and technology in countries like Bangladesh and Maldives.
Following the Maldives’ election last year that brought to power a reform-oriented leader committed to rebuilding the country’s democratic institutions, we mobilized $23 million in foreign assistance to encourage the country’s anti-corruption, rule of law, and counterterrorism agenda.
The Report concludes tomorrow.
Illustration: Pixabay