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Opinion | Austin’s Southeast Asian tour shows a better way for the US to counter China
- After over a decade of neglect, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin struck the right note in promoting relations with Southeast Asia for their own sake, rather than denouncing China at every turn
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The still-new administration of President Joe Biden has worked hard to recover from the damage caused by his predecessor. Allies and partners, often alienated or ignored by Donald Trump, have welcomed with relief the return to civil behaviour by the United States.
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The major exception to this change in atmosphere and priorities is policy regarding China.
In a strategy that either does not exist or has not yet been publicly revealed, Washington has maintained a level of caustic commentary and inaction that is out of step with policy elsewhere, but in keeping with Trump’s hostility towards Beijing. The most recent display was by Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who visited China only to exchange barbs with her hosts.
For its part, Beijing showed itself eager to complain and equally bereft of ideas and initiatives to change the narrative.
For those of us concerned that the US, given the high stakes and potential costs involved, needs to get its China policy right, a glimmer of hope has emerged in Southeast Asia. Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin visited the region last week, after an earlier delay caused by the Covid-19 cancellation of the annual security-focused Shangri-La Dialogue.
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