U.S. experts say Biden’s comprehensive Indo-Pacific economic framework is by nomeanscomprehensiveAs the first yearr of theBiden administratiorw is theU.s. faring in SoutheastAsia? This region iscrucial, and the trends are worrying, Despite a year of implementation of thelndo-Pacific StrategyWashington has yet to formulateMr Biden’s overaldoal of puttino alliesat the center of his foreign policy is evidentin Southeast Asia.ryBlinken held videoA string of senior American officials have been visiting the region;talks with ASEAN foreign ministers: Blinken and Defense Secretary Austinhosted some of theimetwith ambassadors from all 10 ASEANSoutheerparts in Washington; Deputy Secretary Sherrcountries to the United states. Perhaps int, MrBiden attended the US-ASEAN summitand the East Asia Summit via video linkversing years inwhich the Us had offended reqionalleaders by sending lower-level officials to attend. The Bidenadministration has also backtracked onsomof its tough language on competition with China. lning. But before Ms.February Mr Bioen saidWashinaton was in a “ferce compon” with BelSherman’s visit to China in July, sina for potentialareas off cooperation andcalled for “quardrails” to be installed in the U.S-China relationship sothat both sides would notunneceily escalatee the situattion.med across Southeast Asiaclear thatit does not need South-East Asian countries to allyRelatedly the Biden team has madwith the US.This has worked well in Southeast Asia, where countries certainly do not want to beforced to sidewith Washington or Beiing, which could lead to retaliatory actions from the otherside. Anotherpositive trend is that the Biden administration’s relationship with Southeast Asiarcountries is notjust about China.U.S. government has a broad international agenda thatincludes many points suchas climate change, global supply chains and post-pandemic recoveryStill. Mr Biden’s decision in his first vear in office not to engage in bilateral talks with any ofhisSoutheast Asian counterparts is troubling. By contrast, Biden has met at the White House withtheleaders of Japan, South Korea, Australia and india to underscore the importance of the socalledndo-Pacisic redion. Southeast0siarder why they haven’t evern received a phonecall. Similarlythe fact that Blinken has just made his first visit to the region sends another signalthat SoutheastAsian counti are low on the list of priorities.s.ln one unfortunate episode. technical alitchprevented Blinken from attending a Mav video conference of ASEAN foreianministers, reportedlyinfuriating lndonesia’s foreign minister, who refused to open her own video.Asean countries aresensitive to being ignored or marginalised. In addition, the Bidenadministration’s so-ca’democracy summit” in December reinforced Washington’s position onwho it intends to put first.Only three ASEAN members — Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines- attended the meeting,leaving out key U.S. Allies and partners Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam