Blinken builds ties with
Malaysian, Thai PMs after
turbulence
The US secretary of state voiced hope today for more cooperation at an Asia summit.
In a shift of focus after exhaustive diplomacy on the Middle East crisis, Blinken is representing the US in Laos at the annual East Asia Summit, which President Joe Biden is skipping for the second straight year.
Blinken met Thai prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the 38-year-old heir of a political dynasty who took over a month ago after her predecessor was ousted and the main opposition party dissolved.
Blinken said the US hoped to work with Paetongtarn to
, including on the economy, security and climate change.focus on things that we can do to better the lives of our people
Blinken told her.The two countries have such an extraordinary history together and we simply want to build on it,
Paetongtarn told Blinken of northern Thailand’s recent deadly floods and voiced support for long-term relations with the US.
Thailand is the oldest US ally in Asia but Washington has repeatedly criticised its record on democracy, although usually gently.
The state department voiced alarm in August after a Thai court dissolved the reformist Move Forward Party and banned from politics the kingdom’s most popular politician, Pita Limjaroenrat.
Blinken, wearing a dark-blue traditional Laotian jacket, later met separately with Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, who has been a vocal critic of US support for Israel.
Neither mentioned the Middle East in brief remarks in the presence of reporters, with Blinken instead noting that the US is the top foreign investor in Malaysia.
Blinken told Anwar.I think this is a tremendous sign of both trust and confidence, because the investments don’t happen unless there’s tremendous confidence in the country,
US officials privately say they understand the political pressure in the Muslim-majority country and that they seek a cooperative relationship with Anwar, who enjoyed strong advocacy from Washington when he was controversially imprisoned.
Thailand has taken a lead at the Laos summit in seeking diplomatic progress on the crisis engulfing its neighbour Myanmar, whose military junta sent a representative to a top-level Southeast Asian gathering for the first time in more than three years.
The US, while backing diplomatic efforts, said it would press for sustained pressure on the junta, seeing no progress on key concerns such as freeing political prisoners and reducing violence.
Blinken, who met two weeks ago with his Chinese counterpart in New York, will also back efforts by Southeast Asia to raise concerns with Beijing about its actions in the South China Sea.
The summit marks a rare occasion in which Blinken is in the same room as Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov but no talks between the two are expected.
The Biden administration, including presidential nominee Vice-President Kamala Harris, has ruled out talks with Russia on its invasion of Ukraine without involving Kyiv.
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