China deepens ties with ASEAN as Biden skips Jakarta summits
Partnerships forged despite map furor; Li test rides Indonesia high-speed rail
JAKARTA -- China is forging new economic ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, while U.S. President Joe Biden's absence from the gathering of the bloc's leaders in Jakarta this week highlights Washington's failure to challenge its rival's dominance in the region.
Despite tension over China's new territorial map, China and ASEAN leaders on Wednesday signed several new documents -- including to make agriculture "a new growth engine" and to ensure food security in the region.
"The leaders also agreed ... on the ASEAN-China [free trade agreement] 3.0 upgrade, which covers new cooperation in the areas of digital economy, green economy and supply chain," Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told reporters after the ASEAN-China Summit, which was attended by Chinese Premier Li Qiang. Marsudi said the controversy over China's map was not discussed.
Also on Wednesday, Li went for a test ride on the China-backed Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, which will begin commercial service in October. Indonesia's coordinating minister for maritime affairs and investment, Luhut Pandjaitan, said after accompanying Li on the ride that Beijing would be "very happy if they can also get involved" in another plan to further connect the line to Surabaya, the biggest city in East Java province.
"I think with [China]'s experience of building 41,000 kilometers of high-speed rail, we need to consider" partnering with China again, Pandjaitan added.
Meanwhile, the ASEAN-U.S. Summit, where Biden was represented by Vice President Kamala Harris, seemed to have produced no concrete outcomes. Apart from reiterating the "defense and deterrent commitments" of the U.S. in the region, and that "ASEAN is at the center of America's commitment to the Indo-Pacific," Harris only announced a plan to establish "the first-ever" U.S.-ASEAN Center in Washington.
"The center will facilitate a visual ASEAN engagement and support further exchange between our people, businesses and academic institutions," she said in her opening remarks.
In the bilateral meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Harris said the U.S. would "continue to work with Indonesia to build a resilient supply chain, including for the critical minerals required to expand our clean energy economies."
Harris and Li are scheduled to sit in the same room during the East Asia Summit on Thursday, a gathering of ASEAN leaders and several of its dialogue partners, including Australia, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia and South Korea.
Teuku Rezasyah, an international relations expert at Indonesia's Padjadjaran University, thinks the U.S. remains a leader in the Indo-Pacific region in terms of geopolitics and security. He cited as an example the multinational military drills led by the U.S. and Indonesia called Super Garuda Shield currently taking place in East Java, an exercise that keeps expanding as more countries participate.
"However, we have to admit, China's economic influence [with its] trade, investment and infrastructure partnerships [with ASEAN countries] is extraordinary," Rezasyah said. "This can perhaps serve as a lesson for the U.S. to immediately take the lead again through strategic and practical cooperation in the region."
He noted the absence of public statements by ASEAN leaders directly attacking China's new territorial map during the ongoing summits despite previous rejections by some member countries, saying it was probably because ASEAN leaders did not want Li to abandon the meetings.
The leaders have reportedly expressed disappointment over Biden's absence at the summits, with this year's ASEAN chair Indonesia expressing "shock" and "disappointment" over the White House's decision, according to a senior diplomat. Biden will instead join the G20 summit in India this weekend before heading to Vietnam.
Xi, meanwhile, is known to have regularly dispatched the Chinese premier in his stead to ASEAN meetings.
ASEAN's disappointment "is a reflection of how much the U.S. presence is badly needed" and how ASEAN member states "feel unbalanced without Biden's presence," noted Julio Amador, CEO of Amador Research Services in the Philippines.
"Nevertheless, the U.S. is well represented by its second most senior elected official along with a ministerial-level delegation," he added.
Don McLain Gill, an analyst and lecturer at De La Salle University at Manila, said the implications of both Biden and Xi's absence remain relatively the same for the 10-member bloc.
"From ASEAN's perspective, such absences show a lack of genuine interest by the heads of state to engage multilaterally with the bloc," Gill said. "Rather, it gives an impression that both states remain largely interested in power competitions through selective engagement."