US in Asia: President Biden to ASEAN meeting, VP Harris to APEC
Top US officials are set to visit Southeast Asia, with US President Joe Biden joining the ASEAN summit in Cambodia next month, and Vice President Kamala Harris heading to Bangkok for an APEC meeting. The White House has now confirmed that Biden will join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for their meeting on November 12 and 13. Harris was also confirmed to join the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings on November 18 and 19.
President Biden is set to make appearances at Southeast Asia meetings to reaffirm the United States’ commitment to Southeast Asia and ASEAN, according to the White House statement. Previous reports had said that the US president would be unable to attend the ASEAN Asian Summit because his granddaughter was getting married. The White House was scheduled to host that wedding reception.
But now it appears that scheduling conflicts have been resolved. President Biden will attend the annual US-ASEAN summit meeting in Cambodia on November 12 and 13 and also take part in the East Asia summit. Then he will travel to Indonesia to join leaders from 20 major world economies for another summit.
“He will underscore the importance of US-ASEAN cooperation in ensuring security and prosperity in the region, and the well–being of our combined one billion people.”
Meanwhile, Vice President Harris will be heading to Thailand. This year, Thailand is hosting all of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings. Most recently, Bangkok held the APEC Finance Ministers’ Meeting that took place on October 19 through October 21.
The APEC Economic Leaders’ Week is scheduled for November 14 to 19 in Bangkok. Vice President Harris will join on November 18 and November 19. According to Thai PBS World, she will be attending the meetings to bring a message to that summit similar to the one that President Biden will bring to APEC.
Harris will reiterate the commitment of the US to the Indo-Pacific region and economic cooperation with the countries in the region.
