The team of President-elect Joe Biden of the United States is expected to give priority to the socio-economic and security concerns in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a US-based think tank.
Speaking before the Pilipinas Conference 2020 organized by Stratbase Albert del Rosario Institute, Ernie Bower, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Biden’s incoming administration would likely focus on security and socio-economic issues in the Philippines and the rest of the Asia-Pacific.
“Diplomacy is back. There’ll be more investment in process and understanding and diplomacy, and I think this’ll be a more productive process,” said Bower who is also president and CEO of Bower Group Asia.
“You’ll see a return of middle management in US engagement in Asia, and what I mean by that is US departments in Asian agencies will have an assistant and undersecretaries, deputies, assistant secretaries empowered to focus on Asia, including the Philippines and ASEAN.”
Bower said he expected that the Biden administration would be more careful in diplomatic policies on the issue of the South China Sea.
“I expect continuity and more careful diplomacy on the South China Sea. That doesn’t mean a diminishment of the US commitment to the Philippines’ free access or standing up to Chinese, what is seen by many as Chinese coercion in the South China Sea, but it will be strength with diplomacy rather than just strength and blunt words,” Bower said.
He said the Biden administration would also promote multilateral cooperation including on health issues.
“Think less transactional, more procedural. Chief among this area will be multilateral cooperation and coordination in the health care sector, specifically in the worldwide effort to manage the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Bower said.
Under the Biden administration, he said, there would be “more ASEAN centrality, less America-first”, and “the US will look to build teams and coalitions, and cooperate and not pursue American-only strategies”.
Bower said a multinational effort to address climate change would also rank high on Biden’s agenda.
On trade policy, Bower said: “It will be more diplomatic, less focused on deficits, less transactional and more focused on workers’ rights, human rights, the environment and social issues”.
Stratbase Albert del Rosario Institute president Dindo Manhit said the excessive focus placed on the strategic competition between the US and China had undermined the role of other states in the region.
“From a broader perspective, these are two powers within a regional system made up of middle to smaller powers whose stake and interests are just as substantial,” Manhit said.
“The Indo-Pacific states have an equal, if not greater, impact on how the regional order will be shaped because of their significant political, economic, military and socio-cultural power.”
