US senators introduce resolution welcoming US-ASEAN Special Summit

A new Senate resolution has been introduced by the US ahead of the US-ASEAN Special Summit next week to welcome the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and urge continued cooperation to advance mutual interests.

US Senators Bob Menendez and Jim Risch, Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC), were joined by Senators Ed Markey and Mitt Romney, Chairman and Ranking Member of the SFRC Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy, in introducing the Senate resolution.

The resolution welcomes representatives from the governments of ASEAN member states to attend the US-ASEAN Special Summit to be held in Washington D.C. for the first time; supports and affirms the full implementation of the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018 with regard to elevating the relationship between the two sides; and urges the US-ASEAN Special Summit to prioritise the pursuit of a robust economic agenda.

It reaffirms the importance of US-ASEAN economic engagement, urges ASEAN to continue its efforts to foster greater integration and unity within the ASEAN community, as well as to foster greater integration and unity with non-ASEAN economic, political, and security partners; and recognises the value of strategic economic initiatives like US-ASEAN Connect, which demonstrates a commitment to ASEAN and the AEC and builds upon economic relationships in the region.

It also supports ASEAN member states in addressing regional maritime and territorial disputes in a constructive manner; and urges all concerned parties to avoid undertaking any actions that undermine stability or complicate or escalate disputes, to demilitarize islands, reefs, shoals and other features, to oppose actions by any country that prevent other countries from exercising their sovereign rights to the resources in their exclusive economic zones and continental shelves, and to oppose unilateral declarations of administrative and military districts in contested areas in the East Sea.