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  • What Southeast Asia Wants From America

    From ltlee1@21:1/5 to All on Tue May 17 04:58:08 2022
    https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-southeast-asia-want-asean-white-house-summit-defense-america-11652731969?mod=opinion_featst_pos1

    "Hosting what the White House described as a “special summit” in Washington was, in theory, an excellent idea.
    ...
    Unfortunately, the summit highlighted the strategic deadlock that has challenged America’s regional diplomacy during the Biden era. This deadlock has prevented the inauguration of a new era of cooperation between the U.S. and key Southeast Asian
    regional leaders. There is a fundamental mismatch between what Southeast Asia needs from the U.S. and what, given the state of the foreign-policy debate among Democrats, President Biden can offer.
    ...
    Russia’s war in Ukraine is not a priority for them. They see climate change as, at most, a long-term and secondary concern. They think Western concerns about issues like labor standards and “green trade standards” are hypocritical slogans aimed at
    supporting a protectionist agenda. In any case, they believe that a low-wage, low-regulation economic model offers the best hope for economic development, and they have no desire to walk away from it.

    While they worry about the rise of China and hope to see America remain active in the region as an important counterweight, their goal is not to align with the U.S., especially as members of Mr. Biden’s dreamed-of alliance for democracy. Most of these
    countries look forward to a long and profitable future of nonalignment, balancing between China and the U.S., coaxed and petted by both sides, committing to neither. "

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From alien@21:1/5 to ltlee1@hotmail.com on Tue May 17 22:32:20 2022
    On 17 May 2022 at 13:58:08 CEST, "ltlee1" <ltlee1@hotmail.com> wrote:

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-southeast-asia-want-asean-white-house-summit-defense-america-11652731969?mod=opinion_featst_pos1

    "Hosting what the White House described as a “special summit” in Washington
    was, in theory, an excellent idea.
    ...
    Unfortunately, the summit highlighted the strategic deadlock that has challenged America’s regional diplomacy during the Biden era. This deadlock has prevented the inauguration of a new era of cooperation between the U.S. and key Southeast Asian regional leaders. There is a fundamental mismatch between what Southeast Asia needs from the U.S. and what, given the state of the foreign-policy debate among Democrats, President Biden can offer.
    ...
    Russia’s war in Ukraine is not a priority for them. They see climate change as, at most, a long-term and secondary concern. They think Western concerns about issues like labor standards and “green trade standards” are hypocritical
    slogans aimed at supporting a protectionist agenda. In any case, they believe that a low-wage, low-regulation economic model offers the best hope for economic development, and they have no desire to walk away from it.

    While they worry about the rise of China and hope to see America remain active
    in the region as an important counterweight, their goal is not to align with the U.S., especially as members of Mr. Biden’s dreamed-of alliance for democracy. Most of these countries look forward to a long and profitable future of nonalignment, balancing between China and the U.S., coaxed and petted by both sides, committing to neither. "

    Paywalled, so I cannot read it, but anyway, about the climate change, It is pretty unfair.
    Take an example from Indonesia.
    Indonesia has a problem with the power coverage, and you can call it inadequate, they are trying to fix it with the coal power plant. it is because it is cheap and reliable, and Indonesia is the third rank of the producer of the largest coal but they are not using it as much as other countries. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_coal_production> <https://www.worldometers.info/coal/coal-consumption-by-country/> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_power_stations_in_Indonesia> <https://earthjournalism.net/stories/coal-fever-in-indonesia>

    So to force it to its citizen, to have relatively expensive renewal energy,
    why not just use the coal power plant.
    Other countries consume more coal, even states are third on the list of the biggest consumer of coal. This means that your Tesla may be powered by coal.
    So no wonder they are not thinking so much about the agenda and called the
    west a hypocrite. <https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/stories/fossil-fuels-and-climate-change-the-facts/>
    <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0866-1>

    In fact, about the Russia and Ukraine war, Indonesia is trouble with it, since Indonesia buys relatively cheap Russian oils to power up the country. <https://www.ft.com/content/a8d05fc6-439c-40a0-abe6-4db26a3e3ee4> <https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Asia-Insight/Indonesia-in-spotlight-as-it-weighs-buying-Russia-s-blood-oil>

    If Indonesia does not have cheap oils, maybe the country's stability would be on the edge since the 1998 Suharto fall was because the oil price skyrocketed and the Rupiah value was free-falling.
    So that is why the Indonesian government tries to stop it with dialogue
    instead of banning the trade with Russia.
    Well, at least it is not like some countries that try to ban the trade but still use the cheap Russian oils.
    --
    -alien-
    ~ Work like you don't need the money. ~
    ~ Love like you've never been hurt. ~
    ~ Dance like nobody is looking. ~

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)