SINGAPORE - Asia yearns for a strong America that will pick up the mantle of global leadership once more, with greater focus on improving the pandemic-battered world economy rather than on its rivalry with China.
But first, the United States needs to put its own house in order and start listening to its friends again, said Singapore s diplomatic and academic heavyweights at the Geopolitical Reset 2021: Implications for Asia webinar presented by The Straits Times and the World Economic Forum on Friday (Jan 29).
The webinar s backdrop is US President Joe Biden s first days at the helm of the superpower, which has signalled renewed interest in engaging Asia amid broad consensus that it has been losing ground to China in the region.
SINGAPORE - The road ahead for America s 46th president will be busy - and bumpy - as freshly inaugurated Mr Joe Biden looks to roll back Mr Donald Trump s isolationist policies and mend Washington s ties with its global partners.
What can countries in Asia expect from a new administration? And how will continuing competition for influence between America and China play out in the region?
These questions and more will be addressed in an upcoming webinar titled Geopolitical Reset 2021: Implications For Asia to be held next Friday and presented by The Straits Times and the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Having officially entered the Oval Office on Wednesday, President Biden has already signed orders to start the process of rejoining the World Health Organisation and Paris Climate Agreement.
Water Wars: Flirting in the Taiwan Strait
USS Barry (DDG 52) conducts routine underway operations in the Taiwan Strait (U.S. Navy photo by LTJG Samuel Hardgrove).
This month saw some notable military activity in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait, continued diplomatic efforts by the United States and its partners to push back against China, and a renewed emphasis by the U.S. Navy on countering China’s growing naval power. Much of the analysis regarding the Indo-Asia Pacific in the past month focused on what the incoming Biden administration would mean for the region.
Military Activity
Taiwan Tensions Continue