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PHNOM President Joe Biden is formally kicking off his participation at a conference of southeast Asian nations on Saturday, looking to emphasize the United States’ commitment in the region where a looming China is also working to expand its influence.
Biden’s efforts at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations 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 Monday at the Group of 20 summit that brings together leaders from the world’s largest economies, which is held this year in Indonesia on the island of Bali.
Traveling to Phnom Penh earlier Saturday, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden will raise issues such as freedom of navigation and illegal and unregulated fishing by China with the ASEAN leaders — aimed at demonstrating U.S. assertiveness against Beijing.
Freedom of navigation refers to a dispute involving the South China Sea — where the United States says it can sail and fly wherever international law allows and China believes such missions are destabilizing.
