WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden on Tuesday criticized the military coup and “terrible violence” in Myanmar at the top with ASEAN leaders, the White House said.
Overcoming the virtual summit, Biden “revealed serious concerns about the military coup and terrible violence in Burma and asked the country’s military regime to immediately end violence, freeing them who were detained unfairly, and returned Burma’s path to democracy,” said a statement.
The Myanmar military government boycotted the ASEAN Summit, organized by Brunei, after its leaders were banned in response to February Power Grab and lethal harsh acts on dissent.
The White House statement that was very reading after Biden made a comment on the public opening to the ASEAN meeting where he made a covert reference to fight China, but did not mention Myanmar.
Speaking with a video link from the White House, Biden called the Southeast Asian Association “Important” and said the United States “committed to ASEAN centrality.” The United States is not a member of the 10-nation but see ASEAN as an important component in its strategy to push back to the presence of diplomatic, commercial and military which is increasingly assertive throughout Asia.
Biden, who has held two phone calls with Chinese President XI Jinping since becoming president and also planning a virtual summit later this year, not referring directly to Beijing.
However, the focus is clear, call ASEAN “A Lynchpin” in maintaining an area “where each country can compete and succeed at playing levels and all nations, no matter how big or strong, obey the law.” The US-ASEAN partnership “is very important in maintaining free and open indo-Pacific which has become the basis of security and joint prosperity for decades,” said Biden.
The United States strongly supports ASEAN views on Indo-Pacific-based international orders and rules, he added.