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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a speech on the US’ Indo-Pacific policy at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta on Tuesday. (Reuters/Yonhap News)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that China must stop its “aggressive actions” in the Indo-Pacific. He also said the US would strengthen military and economic engagement with its allies in the region to counter China.

Blinken outlined the US government’s Indo-Pacific policy in a speech Tuesday at the University of Indonesia, in Jakarta. This was Blinken’s first visit to Southeast Asia since Joe Biden was inaugurated. 

As expected, Blinken’s speech focused on countering China. While observing that the US would “work with our allies and partners to defend the rules-based order,” he said that all countries have the right “to choose their own path.”

Blinken went on to talk about the US’ strategic competition with China.

“It’s not about a contest between a US-centric region or a China-centric region,” the secretary said. “Rather, it’s about upholding the rights and agreements that are responsible for the most peaceful and prosperous period that this region and the world has ever experienced. That’s why there is so much concern, from Northeast Asia to Southeast Asia, and from the Mekong River to the Pacific Islands, about Beijing’s aggressive actions.”

Blinken asserted that China was “claiming open seas as their own” and “distorting open markets through subsidies to its state-run companies.”

“Countries across the region want this behavior to change,” he said. “We do, too.”

“We’re determined to ensure freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, where Beijing’s aggressive actions there threaten the movement of more than US$3 trillion worth of commerce every year,” Blinken said, referring to China’s territorial claim to most of the South China Sea within the so-called nine-dash line.

In addition, Blinken said that the US wants “peace and stability” in the Taiwan Strait, where military tensions have been rising.

“We’ll deepen our treaty alliances with Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, the Philippines, and Thailand,” Blinken said, mentioning the US’ major allies in the Indo-Pacific. He also stressed cooperation on climate change, COVID-19 vaccines and building infrastructure.

In Blinken’s earlier stop in Europe, he focused on restraining Russia. “Russia should be in no doubt that further military aggression against Ukraine would have massive consequences and severe cost in response,” Blinken said in a joint statement with the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven countries.

Russia is locked in a battle of nerves with the US as it seeks to make its presence felt.

Following Blinken’s meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Widodo also met with Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Security Council of Russia and a key advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin. While Blinken was aware of those plans when he made his speech, he focused on the Indo-Pacific region and China, without making any mention of Russia.

The next stops on Blinken’s tour will be Malaysia and Thailand.

By Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent

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