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Announced Support For $ 150 Million To Asean

The summit of the United States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will begin on May 12 at the White House in Washington, and the Biden administration announced will support ASEAN with approximately $ 150 million for infrastructure development and ocean security.

President Biden of the United States invites the leaders of ASEAN countries to the White House and holds a summit meeting from the 12th and lasts 2 days. 

At the start of the meeting, the Biden administration announced to support will pay about 150 million dollars, 19.2 billion yen in Japanese yen, to ASEAN on the 12th for infrastructure development, ocean security, and measures for the new corona. 

China, which is also aiming to strengthen relations with ASEAN, announced in November last year that it would provide $ 1.5 billion in support for new corona measures and economic recovery. So, with China in mind, which is increasing the pressure on Taiwan, they would like to work with ASEAN to take a stance that does not allow changes in the status quo by force.

Furthermore, in addition to the situation in Ukraine, the conference will also discuss a new economic partnership, the "IPEF = Indo-Pacific Economic Framework," which the United States aims to launch with a view to countering China.

Myanmar, which continues to be confused by a military coup, is not included in the conference. 

President Biden would like to emphasize that through this conference and visits to Japan and South Korea from the 20th of this month, the United States will continue to deepen its involvement in the Indo-Pacific region even as it is forced to respond to the situation in Ukraine.

Source: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20220513/k10013624021000.html