Simultaneous visit of US and Russian officials to Indonesia, a tough competition in East Asia

According to IRNA on Tuesday, the US Secretary of State said during a meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo yesterday that the US supports Indonesia as a “leader of the Indo-Pacific region”. The United States wants to reduce China’s growing influence in the region by all means.

Reuters reported today from Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, that Blinken described the Indo-Pacific region as the most dynamic part of the world as the first destination in Southeast Asia, and without directly referring to China, all countries in the region contributed to the guarantee. They have its existing conditions.

He said the main motivation for his regional trip was to address US security concerns in the face of China, adding that the United States, its allies and some countries claiming sovereignty over the China Sea would oppose any illegal action.

It is noteworthy that Indonesia is the headquarters of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and is a key player in regional security.

That is why before Blinken arrived in Jakarta yesterday, the plane of Nikolai Patrushev, the Russian president’s national security adviser or the country’s third senior official, landed at Jakarta airport, and in fact the Russian official’s trip to the region was based on the US Secretary of State’s previous goals. It casts a shadow.

The Associated Press reported yesterday that the US Secretary of State, who had recently warned of a possible Russian invasion of Moscow by Moscow, had traveled to Indonesia after realizing that the Russian president’s special assistant had already arrived in Jakarta for security talks. Has traveled.

According to the report, this timeline means that Patrushev’s visit to Indonesia coincided with Blinken’s speech today / Tuesday on the US government’s strategy in the Indo-Pacific region.

Reports indicate that so far there is no sign of a possible meeting between the two Russian and US diplomats in Jakarta; Nor does either Russian or US top official point to another presence in Jakarta.

However, shortly after Blinken, Russian National Security Council Chairman Nikolai Patrushev visited the Indonesian president yesterday.

“I want to emphasize that the United States, like Russia, is a good and credible partner for Indonesia,” the Indonesian foreign minister said after the two meetings, declaring his country one of the first founders of the Non-Aligned Movement.

“Indonesia wants to expand strategic trust with all countries,” he said.

“Moscow wants to preserve the security architecture in the India-Pacific region,” Patronshev said, describing Indonesia as the custodian of “international law-based order.”

Indonesia, with a population of 273 million, is one of the US hopes to prevent China from dominating. But before cooperating with Washington, the Indonesian government seems to be concerned with striking a balance between the United States and Russia.

However, Indonesian government officials have stated that they are willing to accept more US investment in their country.

In any case, Blinken’s visit to Indonesia to avert what China sees as potential dangers in the region coincides with the visit of the Russian official, whose country is China’s main ally in the world arena, to determine at the end of their journey which force and logic of discourse in the region. It will affect the world.

“We have worked with our allies and partners to defend the rule of law that we have worked with together for decades to ensure that the area remains open and accessible,” Blinken said in a speech at Jakarta University today. “I must make it clear that the goal is not to defend the weak laws and keep any country low, but to support the rights of all countries to choose their own path and destiny without coercion or intimidation.”

Blinken’s claims come as China believes large parts of the South China Sea are owned by its own country, despite some coastal states making similar claims. Beijing, meanwhile, sees the US position as interventionist and rejects it, while believing that foreign intervention would destabilize and threaten the security of the Asian region.

In fact, this is the US Secretary of State’s first visit to Southeast Asia since the inauguration of US President Joe Biden in January, with the aim of strengthening and improving relations with Southeast Asia after a period of suspicion. Doubt is in the US commitment to the policies of former US President Donald Trump by adopting his policies.

However, despite the many tensions in the South China Sea, Beijing’s influence in recent years in the region by investing in infrastructure and merging trade ties in the Indo-Pacific region, in the absence of the United States and economic strategy. It has become more and more in the region day by day.

“The United States will strengthen ties and alliances with Japan, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines, and strengthen the defense and intelligence capabilities of Indo-Pacific regional partners,” Anthony Blinken told reporters today.

However, the Secretary of State reiterated that there is no competition between the US and China in the region.

He went on to say without elaborating that the United States remains committed to the new comprehensive regional economic framework, which includes more direct foreign investment by the United States and American companies by identifying new opportunities in the region.

The administration of US President Joe Biden has not yet set a clear economic framework for Southeast Asia. The Donald Trump administration withdrew from the Oceania Multinational Trade Agreement in 2017.

Anthony Blinken is scheduled to travel to Malaysia and Thailand this week to discuss issues such as strengthening supply chains and infrastructure gaps in the region, from ports to roads and the energy and Internet sectors. His deputy, Daniel Cretanbrink, also told the media that Blinken planned to “strengthen the region’s security infrastructure in response to China’s conflicts.”

Although Biden has repeatedly emphasized that the core of US foreign policy is defined in the direction of Asia and China, in the Indo-Pacific region, China considers itself the first authority and power.