Biden Lands in Cambodia to Push US Engagement in Indo-Pacific

President Joe Biden speaks in Irvine, Calif., on Oct. 14, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

President Joe Biden arrived in Cambodia on Nov. 12 to meet with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders with an intent to elevate the United States’ engagement in the region.

Biden first met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, the host for the regional summit, before attending the U.S.-ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh. He also participated in the East Asia summit on Nov. 13.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said that Biden has spent the past two years of his presidency “elevating our engagement in the Indo-Pacific” through initiatives such as the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and the AUKUS security partnership.

“And he wants to be able to use the next 36 hours to build on that foundation to take American engagement forward and also to deliver on a series of concrete, practical initiatives,” Sullivan told reporters.

Sullivan said Biden planned to discuss new initiatives on maritime cooperation, digital connectivity, economic investment, and a range of other issues, including the freedom of navigation.

Biden plans to launch a maritime domain effort to use radio frequencies from commercial satellites to better track dark shipping and illegal fishing and to improve the countries’ capacity to respond to disasters.

“The president also has been very focused on making sure that we maintain a forward-deployed posture in our defense approach to the region,” Sullivan said.

Another topic Biden will raise is Burma, also known as Myanmar, where the military junta overthrew the ruling government in February 2021. He will discuss with ASEAN leaders how they can coordinate more closely to continue imposing costs and raising pressure on the junta.

Trilateral Meeting With Japan, South Korea

While in Phnom Penh, Biden will hold a trilateral meeting with Japanese and South Korean leaders to discuss “broader security issues in the Indo-Pacific” and the threats posed by North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs.

“What we would really like to see is enhanced trilateral security cooperation where the three countries are all coming together—where that triangle, in a way, is getting smaller and smaller—between Japan, ROK, United States,” Sullivan said, using South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea (ROK).

Biden’s efforts at the ASEAN summit are meant to lay the groundwork ahead of his highly anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping—the first face-to-face encounter of Biden’s presidency with a leader whose nation the U.S. now considers its most potent economic and military rival.

The two leaders will meet on Nov. 14 at the Group of 20 (G-20) summit that brings together leaders from the world’s largest economies, which is held this year in Indonesia on the island of Bali.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.