特别电话新闻通报会（节选）
美国东亚和太平洋事务助理国务卿丹尼尔·克里滕布林克和总统特别助理及国家安全委员会东亚与大洋洲事务资深主任埃德加德·卡根

美国国务院
即时发布
2022年5月17日
亚太新闻中心
2022年5月17日
 
克里滕布林克助理国务卿：
……
简而言之，上周的美国-东盟特别峰会极为成功。我们相信这次峰会在两天期间全面展现了我们同东盟的根本性关系的广度和深度。我们的意图是真正地为我们在东盟的朋友们铺设红地毯，对东盟及其领导人表现出极大的尊重，从佩洛西议长在国会山同东盟领导人共进午餐以及同工商界领袖的交流开始，直到总统在白宫举办的晚宴，都安排在第一天；紧接着是在周五，第二天，在国务院进行了一整天的对话，在总统和副总统以及多位内阁部长再次参与后结束。
在峰会期间，总统还宣布了他提名担任美国驻东盟大使的人选。
国务卿和副国务卿还在峰会间隙会见了多个代表团，而且我们在峰会开幕前同公民社会组织、年轻人和侨民社区举办了许多活动。这些活动凸显了东盟和美国之间的民间联系的长期历史。我们总计有10亿人口，其中超过700万美国人与东南亚国家有着家族和传承纽带，是我们的伙伴关系真正的核心驱动力。我们热切希望继续同我们在东南亚的朋友们进行数十年来的积极协作。
我高兴地同资深主任卡根（Senior Director Kagan）一道在会场边就坐，见证了这次非常特殊的峰会。这是在华盛顿特区举行的首次美国-东盟集会，也是拜登-哈里斯政府迄今为止举办的规模最大的现场峰会。很多东盟代表团还借此机会前往其他美国城市以推动美国-东盟关系，使之远远超越了华盛顿特区的范畴。
我要说这远远不止是一次峰会。事实上，这是美国同东盟45年伙伴关系的一次庆典，而且随着我们将我们的关系提升为一种全面战略伙伴关系（Comprehensive Strategic Partnership），这还是对今后45年前景的一次展望。我们所发布的《联合愿景声明》（Joint Vision Statement）阐明了我们对一个更自由、更繁荣、更互联互通、更具复原力的印太地区的共同愿景。我们在其中承诺就湄公河次区域的发展展开协作；增进民间联系；建立更好的卫生保障，其中包括以四方伙伴关系为渠道；以及共同努力采取气候行动。我们的《联合愿景声明》还重申了我们对乌克兰的主权、领土完整和政治独立的相互尊重，以及我们对缅甸危机的深重关切。
海事安全是整个峰会的一个重大议题。副总统宣布了6000万美元的新的区域性海事行动计划，以促进海事执法、提高海洋领域意识，并遏制非法、未报告和不受监管的捕捞活动。我们还宣布了很多行动计划，都在我们于峰会第一天发布的简报（Fact Sheet）中得到阐述。这份简报及其可交付成果都旨在深化我们同一个实力和权能都得到增强的东盟的关系。
我们宣布了1.5亿美元新的区域性行动计划，当然，这是在美国自2002年以来已向东南亚地区提供的121亿美元的发展、经济、卫生和安全援助、以及14亿美元人道主义援助的基础之上。此外，仅在公共卫生一个领域，美国自2002年以来就已投入超过33亿美元。
除此之外，拜登-哈里斯政府的2023财政年度预算案中包括为东盟伙伴提供的超过8亿美元双边援助，以及用于深化同东盟关系的超过2500万美元资金。
我还想利用一点时间简要地重点介绍一些教育和文化事务局（Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau）以及美国高等院校正在东南亚各地从事的工作，通过研究和培训项目来增强民间联系。
……
在为期两天的峰会期间，总统、副总统、国务卿、副国务卿以及其他高级美国官员，包括内阁部长在内，都同东盟领导人建立了个人关系，并就范围广泛的一系列问题展开了诚恳的、有成效的对话。例如，美国商会（Chamber of Commerce）和美国-东盟商务理事会（U.S.-ASEAN Business Council）促成了同美国私营部门的企业主管的一次讨论会，确立了美国企业对提升投资信心的承诺。在这次活动上，雷蒙多部长（Secretary Raimondo）宣布，规模最大的贸易使团——美国规模最大的贸易使团，贸易风（Trade Winds），将于明年在泰国举行活动，并将附带访问其他五个东南亚市场。本次峰会借助了提升东盟战略伙伴关系的动力，在商贸领域成果尤为显著。
副总统哈里斯与气候问题总统特使约翰·克里（John Kerry）、能源部长格兰霍姆（Granholm）、运输部长布蒂吉格（Buttigieg）和美国国际发展署署长鲍尔（Power）一道主持了一次有关气候行动、清洁能源转型和可持续性基础设施的富有成效的讨论会。东盟欢迎同美国就这些议题进行更深入的合作，其中包括于2021年9月举行的首届美国-东盟能源部长级会议。
在东南亚地区，缅甸危机继续是东盟关注的焦点，而且是拜登总统的一项首要重点。
……
与会领导人讨论了他们对基于规则的国际秩序的共同承诺，而我们要发展我们的经济和社会都要依赖于此。各位领导人还讨论了俄罗斯对乌克兰人民以及该国的主权和领土完整的持续攻击。正如我讲到的，理所当然，《联合愿景声明》重申了乌克兰的主权、政治独立和领土完整。
总统还在全体会议上强调了各项基本自由和人权的重要意义，同时承认了美国自身在这方面的不足。他指出，尊重法治和人权是一个自由、开放的印太地区的根基，该地区在美国对外政策中继续处于中心地位。
因此，当我说我们的领导人在美国-东盟峰会上讨论了所有议题时，那是我真实的想法。再重申一遍，我们认为这是一次极其成功的峰会，推动了美国和东盟国家之间的实质性合作，使与会领导人能够就范围广泛的重要战略和经济议题展开持续的、富有成果的交流，并且，再次重申，我认为进一步发展了我们的领导人之间的个人关系。
……
卡根先生：…… 我来补充一两点。
一是这对总统很重要。总统充分认识到扩大美国与东盟关系的重要性。他认为东盟是美国需要与之进一步合作的组织，这对我们在印太地区的更广泛的努力至关重要。
我还要指出，这次峰会正值总统和本届政府的许多其他高级官员异常繁忙的时候召开，显然首先要关注的是乌克兰的局势。但我的感觉是，总统非常坚定地认为我们不能仅仅关注乌克兰——本届政府需要继续落实它从上任伊始就制定的计划，即真正关注印太地区，扩大和加强我们在印太地区的地位和关系。我觉得总统清楚地认识到东盟是其中的一个关键方面，这首先体现在他在去年秋季由文莱主持的东盟峰会期间的参与。
但我认为，他与东南亚领导人的进一步接触，与该地区其他领导人的讨论，都加深了他的看法，即在我们加强与许多长期伙伴、盟友的关系方面，这对美国来说是一个关键的地区—— 这些国家对美国极为重要，并且我们正在寻求做得更多。
我认为，我们的愿景表明，我们非常希望加强双边关系，但也认识到为了能够加强我们与东南亚国家的双边关系，我们需要与东盟合作。众所周知，东盟对整个东南亚国家极为重要，如果没有牢固的关系和加强这种关系的投资，我认为最好的 [听不清] 是将这一关系提升为全面战略伙伴关系的决定，否则我们就无法真正像我们希望的那样在东南亚拥有更广泛的定位。
我认为总统非常珍视与其他领导人聚会的机会，对他们前来美国非常感激。他知道这是不远万里。我认为晚宴非常特别，部分原因是规模很小，因此可以密切接触，他们进行了非常好的交谈。我们也认为，在华盛顿举办这一活动非常重要。正如 Dan 所提到的，我们只举办过一次这样的特别峰会，那是 2016 年在“阳光之乡”(Sunnylands) 举行的。顺便提一句，Dan 当时担任我现在的职务，是那次会议的主要组织者。
另外我认为，这一次从我们的角度来看，在华盛顿开会的一个原因是希望表明，加强与东盟关系这一想法不仅对白宫很重要，不仅对国务院很重要，而且对美国政府的各个部门和机构都很重要。因此，我们对众多内阁级官员参加讨论感到非常高兴。
我认为，不仅有很多具有象征意义的关注点，在宣布的援助和合作方面也有很多值得关注的内容。我认为对我们来说——这一点非常重要，尽管之前已经强调了其重要性。这些是我们希望与东盟一起做的事情，是对双边工作的补充，我们正在不断努力做这些事情。这些工作反映了新的合作领域和我们认为对东盟很重要的领域。我们的体会之一是我们需要确保回应东盟伙伴的需求。
因此，从我们的角度来看，宣布的一些关键举措反映了我们从东盟伙伴那里听取的意见，他们希望看到美国在这些领域中做得更多。我还要指出联合愿景声明的重要意义。据我所知，东盟与对话伙伴会谈时并不总是发表共同愿景声明。我们认为发表这样一个声明非常重要，东盟国家在这方面表现出的热情和建设性态度让我们感到非常鼓舞。我们认为，这是一个重要的声明，反映了美国和东盟加强合作的领域；我们双方的愿景更加一致；这也反映了我们的关系正在向前发展并且会在未来得到加强。
我要说的最后一件事是，我们对这份声明中有关民间交流的内容感到特别欣慰，特别是我们能够宣布将由约翰霍普金斯大学高级国际研究院在华盛顿主办美国-东盟新兴领导者研究院。我认为，从我们的角度来看，这反映了我们把民间交流视为美国与东盟伙伴关系的支柱之一，我们认为民间交流是极其重要的，我们为此感到非常自豪，并深信我们需要采取更多行动扩展这种交流。
……
[为翻译需要复述提问:][新闻媒体询问关于是否撤回对俄罗斯参加G20峰会的邀请以及本届政府是否力图要求或说服其他国家疏远俄罗斯或者更多公开发声。]
* * * *
卡根先生：好，我来回答这个问题。我认为我们非常注重同东盟作为一个机构——及其领导人——进行有关东盟和东南亚的讨论。所以，我认为曾经——总统谈了他对乌克兰正在发生的情况的看法和国际社会作出强大反应的重要性。我不认为我们专门要想说服其他国家疏远自己。但是我认为，我们的一个重点是要让其他国家了解美国在这件事上的看法，有相当一些国家也持有这样的看法。
我认为，我们对一些动态和联合声明采用的语言感到满意。我认为我们认识到，这个地区的每个国家都有各自不同的历史，在某种程度上，这意味着其中有些国家与俄罗斯关系比较密切。我认为我们的观点是，他们全都理解站出来支持主权和独立与领土完整的重大意义。我认为他们非常明确地提到了尊重联合国宪章的重要性。所以，从我们的角度而言，我们相信这是我们认为正在出现的那种进展，各国正在试图理解在乌克兰发生的情况的严重性及其极端残酷性。
克里滕布林克助理国务卿：多谢，埃德加德。请允许我对此略微补充一、两点，我完全同意埃德加德所说的一切。我对领导人之间的谈话感到很震撼，有那么多位东盟领导人再次公开表达了他们对俄罗斯残酷入侵乌克兰的深切担忧。正如你们在埃德加德重点提到的《联合愿景声明》中所看到的，《联合愿景声明》一致同意，我们所有国家都必须尊重乌克兰的主权、政治独立和领土完整。
所以，总统无疑非常明确地表达了我们对此的深切关注。但我要再次说，我对有这么多东盟领导人也公开表达了他们的关注感到相当满意和钦佩。我认为，就像埃德加德提到的，围绕重申我们尊重乌克兰的主权、独立和领土完整绝对是有共识的，强有力的共识。
主持人：谢谢。下一个，我们也许可以请澳大利亚堪培拉的《亚太防务》（Asia Pacific Defence）的基姆·伯格曼提问。基姆，请讲。
问：……先生们，非常感谢你们的时间，而且我想再次说这些通报会对媒体是多么重要。我的问题与南中国海（South China Sea）有关。我在愿景声明中看到，你们提到采取建立信心举措和切实举措的重要意义也是为减缓紧张局势。那你们能否谈谈这一点，你们究竟考虑的是什么？
克里滕布林克助理国务卿：非常感谢你的提问。我可以说，美国-东盟峰会对海事问题的关注是完全自然的，尤其是在南中国海。我认为在领导人的讨论中和在《联合愿景声明》中，你们都可以看到我们之间具有的共识。我们注重确保整个南中国海的持久和平和稳定与繁荣。我们将确保维持这一地区的和平、安全和稳定的关键放在确保使所有分歧和所有行为都根据国际法得到解决，都是基于国际法，包括《联合国海洋法公约》。我们重申我们支持航行和飞越自由。我们还声明，支持全面落实2002年《各方行为宣言》（2002 Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties），并且支持一项有利于环境的南中国海行为准则，同时强调，任何行为准则都必须符合国际法。
我认为，除此之外，就像你们可以在《联合愿景声明》中看到的，还有一个关注点是海事领域的实际合作。其中一部分体现在我们在资料中宣布的一些新项目，将由海上警卫队实施，侧重于发展我们在这一地区的伙伴的实力和能力，形成海域意识，从而了解正在他们的海域和领土上发生的情况；我们能够为打击非法、未报告和不受监管的捕捞活动共同作出的实际努力；以及在一个更实际的层面，发展搜救和其他方面的能力。
所以，我想说的就是，我认为这既是一个高层外交会谈，强调我们全体所高度重视的针对南中国海的原则，同时也是非常务实的援助，旨在提高我们合作伙伴的能力，捍卫他们的利益和利用南中国海的资源。
但以上是我的看法。埃德加德，我不知你是否想补充。
卡根先生：我可以补充的唯一一点是，我认为，在这些讨论本身的过程中，我们的观点是，对南中国海和对遵守某些国际法的基本原则的重要性有一些非常有力的表述。我认为，我们离开时感到，与一些双边讨论相比，我们的观点和东盟作为一个整体的观点其实比我们原来期待的更加一致。
所以，对我们来说，我认为我们感到，对南中国海我们在很多方面观点非常相同，我们能够达成一项联合声明，对基本原则和价值观表述得如此明确，我认为从我们的角度来看，是有非常积极意义的。
克里滕布林克助理国务卿：我认为的确是这样，埃德加德提到我们对《联合愿景声明》非常满意，我绝对赞成。我认为我们相信，《联合愿景声明》确实非常全面，它是战略性的，确实体现了美国和东盟之间的利益吻合。正如埃德加德在前面强调的，我们坚决支持东盟的中心地位和《东盟印太展望》（ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific），我认为，人们确实可以在那项声明中看到我们的利益和我们的价值观以及我们对这一地区的观点相吻合，包括在海事问题上。
……
问：太好了。谢谢你。我觉得再提第二个问题有点贪心。但我要返回愿景声明和乌克兰的情况。我注意到在愿景声明中，其实没有提到俄罗斯，没有使用“俄罗斯侵略”的词句，我不是要低估在这么多不同国家中竟能达成共识的难度。但是这是不是稍微有些牵强了，希望有些更实在的东西？
克里滕布林克助理国务卿：不是，基姆，感谢你提出这个问题。要知道，我只想重申我们在前面通话中说过的话。我们对《联合愿景声明》感到非常自豪。我认为，它代表着美国和我们东盟伙伴之间的非常强有力的共识，包括在乌克兰问题上。我认为那一段文字的细节反映出我们东盟十个伙伴和美国达成的共识，我想就说到此为止。
我想你非常清楚美国的立场。我认为，就像我在今晚通话中提到的，我对——尤其是在全体会议上，我们一些东盟朋友对俄罗斯骇人听闻的入侵——骇人听闻——对乌克兰无端、无理的入侵所表达的强烈观点感到相当震撼。但是我认为，如果你读那段文字，我还是要说，它反映出在所有十国和美国之间达成的共识。
 
欲查看原稿内容: https://www.state.gov/teleconference-with-u-s-assistant-secretary-of-state-for-the-bureau-of-east-asian-and-pacific-affairs-daniel-j-kritenbrink-and-special-assistant-to-the-president-and-senior-director-for-east-asia-an/
本译文仅供参考，只有英文原稿才可以被视为权威资料来源。

SPECIAL BRIEFING VIA TELEPHONE
DANIEL J. KRITENBRINK, ASSISTANT SECRETARYBUREAU OF EAST ASIAN AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS
EDGARD D. KAGAN
The audio file for this briefing is available here.
Moderator:  Good day from the U.S. Department of State’s Asia Pacific Media Hub in Manila.  I’m the Hub Director, Zia Syed, and I want to thank you all for joining this briefing.  Today, we are pleased to be joined from Washington, D.C., by Daniel J. Kritenrbrink, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, and Edgard D. Kagan, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for East Asia and Oceania on the National Security Council.
We’ll begin today’s call with opening remarks from Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink and then Mr. Kagan will follow.  We’ll try to get to as many questions as we can during the time that we have, which is approximately 35 minutes.
Finally, as a reminder, today’s call is on the record.  And with that, I will turn it over to Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink.
Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink:  Thank you very much, Zia.  Good evening, everyone.  This is Dan Kritenbrink.  Honored to be with you, as always, and so grateful to all of our friends in the media for joining us this evening.
I’m delighted to be joined tonight by my good friend, Senior Director Edgard Kagan, who was central and instrumental to organizing last week’s U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit.
Look, in a nutshell, last week’s U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit was a tremendous success.  We believe that this summit displayed the full breadth and depth of our foundational relationship with ASEAN over the course of two days.  Our intention was truly to roll out the red carpet for our friends in ASEAN, to show tremendous respect for ASEAN and its leaders, starting with Speaker Pelosi’s lunch with ASEAN leaders on Capitol Hill and engagement with business leaders, and then the President’s dinner at the White House, all on day one; followed on Friday, on day two, by a full day of dialogue at the State Department, concluding again with both the President, the Vice President, as well as multiple Cabinet secretaries.
During the summit, the President also announced his nominee for U.S. ambassador to ASEAN.
The Secretary and Deputy Secretary of State also met with several delegations on the sidelines of the summit, and we held many pre-summit events with civil society, youth, and diaspora communities.  These events underscored our long history of people-to-people ties between ASEAN and the United States.  Our combined 1 billion people, including over 7 million Americans with ties of family and heritage to the countries of Southeast Asia, are truly the core driver of our partnership.  We are excited to continue decades of positive collaboration with our friends in Southeast Asia.
I was delighted, along with Senior Director Kagan, to have a courtside seat for this very special summit.  This was the first U.S.-ASEAN get-together held in Washington, D.C., and it was the largest in-person summit of the Biden-Harris administration to date.  Many ASEAN delegations also took the opportunity to travel to other U.S. cities to advance U.S.-ASEAN ties far beyond the corridors of Washington, D.C.
I would say that this was far more than simply a summit.  In reality, this was a celebration of America’s 45-year partnership with ASEAN and a preview of what the next 45 years hold as we elevate our relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.  The Joint Vision Statement that we released lays out our shared vision for a freer, more prosperous, more interconnected, and more resilient Indo-Pacific.  In it, we committed ourselves to collaborating on subregional development in the Mekong; enhancing our people-to-people ties; building better health security, including through partnership with the Quad; and working together on climate action.  Our Joint Vision Statement also reaffirms our mutual respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence of Ukraine, as well as our deep concern over the crisis in Burma.
Maritime security was a major theme throughout the summit.  The Vice President announced $60 million in new regional maritime initiatives advancing maritime law enforcement, improving maritime domain awareness, and curbing illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.  There were many initiatives that we announced, as we outlined in our Fact Sheet that was released on day one of the summit.  And that fact sheet and its deliverables were all aimed at deepening our relations with a strengthened and empowered ASEAN.
The $150 million in new regional initiatives that we announced is, of course, in addition to the $12.1 billion in development economic health and security assistance, and over $1.4 billion in humanitarian assistance that we have provided to Southeast Asia since 2002.  In addition, for public health alone, the United States has invested over $3.3 billion since 2002.
In addition, the Biden-Harris administration’s Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Request included over $800 million in bilateral assistance for ASEAN partners, and over $25 million to deepen relations with ASEAN.
I’d also like to take a moment just to briefly highlight some of the work that the Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau and U.S. universities are doing throughout Southeast Asia to strengthen people-to-people ties through research and training.  For example, Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management announced new plans to educate 100 million learners by 2030, many of them throughout Southeast Asia.  The Development Finance Corporation and Fulbright University Vietnam, have signed a financing agreement for $37 million in DFC financing for FUV’s new campus in Ho Chi Minh City.  And these examples are just a very small snapshot of U.S. university engagement in Southeast Asia.
Under programs like Fulbright and the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative, or YSEALI, the United States is proud to support the next generation of ASEAN leaders.  And as the White House announced, and in the fact sheet for the summit, we are doubling the size of both of these programs.
Throughout the two-day summit, the President, the Vice President, the Secretary of State, and the Deputy Secretary of State, and other senior U.S. officials, including Cabinet secretaries, were able to develop personal relationships with the leaders of ASEAN and they had candid and productive conversations on a wide range of issues.  For example, the Chamber of Commerce and U.S.-ASEAN Business Council facilitated a discussion with U.S. private sector business executives anchoring the U.S. commitment to investing in the dynamism of optimism.  At this event, Secretary Raimondo announced that the largest trade mission – the largest U.S. trade mission, Trade Winds, will be held in Thailand next year with spin-off visits to five other Southeast Asian markets.  The summit took advantage of momentum for elevating the strategic partnership of ASEAN, particularly for our business.
Vice President Harris, joined by Special Presidential Envoy on Climate John Kerry, Energy Secretary Granholm, Transport Secretary Buttigieg, and USAID Administrator Power, hosted a productive discussion on climate action, clean energy transformation, and sustainable infrastructure.  ASEAN welcomed deeper cooperation with the United States on these issues, including the first U.S.-ASEAN energy ministerial in September of 2021.
In Southeast Asia, of course, the crisis in Burma continues to be at the forefront of ASEAN’s attention as well as a top priority for President Biden.  At the U.S.-ASEAN summit, the leaders discussed in detail our efforts to hold the Burmese regime accountable and our support for the implementation of ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus.  The empty chair that we reserved for Burma at the summit represented not just the unfulfilled vision of the people of Burma for a democratic future, but also the regime’s empty promises to the people of Burma.  Leaders discussed ending the violence and increasing efficiency and administering humanitarian aid to the people of Burma, especially those in distant areas and vulnerable situations.
The leaders discussed their shared commitment to the rules-based international order that we have all depended on to grow our economies and our societies.  The leaders also discussed Russia’s continued assault on Ukraine’s people and the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.  As I mentioned, of course, the Joint Vision Statement reaffirmed the sovereignty, political independence, and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
The President also emphasized in the plenary session the importance of fundamental freedoms and human rights, while acknowledging America’s own shortcomings in this regard.  He noted that respect for the rule of law and human rights is fundamental to a free and open Indo-Pacific and remains central to U.S. foreign policy.
So, when I say that our leaders at the U.S.-ASEAN summit discussed it all, I truly mean it.  Again, we thought this was a tremendously successful summit that advanced concrete cooperation between the United States and the countries of ASEAN, allowed the leaders to engage in sustained and fruitful exchange on a wide range of important strategic and economic issues and, again, further developed I think the personal relations between our leaders.
Let me stop there.  Thank you for allowing me to make those opening comments.  I’ll ask Zia to hand it over to my good friend Edgard Kagan for any comments he may wish to make at the outset.  Look forward to your questions later.  Thank you.
Moderator:  Thank you.  Please go ahead, Mr. Kagan.
Mr. Kagan:  Thank you very much, Zia, and to Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink, my good friend Dan, thank you for the lay-down.  I would just add a couple of things.
One is that this was important to the President.  The President fully appreciates the importance of expanding U.S. ties to ASEAN.  He sees ASEAN as an organization with which the United States wants to do more, and that this is really critical to our broader efforts in the Indo-Pacific.
I’d also point out that this is happening at a time when there are tremendous demands on the President’s time and on many other senior officials in the administration, and obviously Ukraine stands first and foremost there.  But I think the President is very, very committed to the idea that we can’t allow ourselves to be overly focused on Ukraine – that the administration needs to continue doing what it laid out from the very beginning of its time in office in terms of really focusing on the Indo-Pacific and expanding and strengthening our position and our relations in the Indo-Pacific.  And I think the President very much sees ASEAN as a critical aspect of this, and that was first demonstrated in the engagements that he had in the fall at the time of the ASEAN summit that was held virtually, chaired by Brunei.
But I think that his further engagements with leaders from Southeast Asia, discussion with other leaders from the region, all just reinforced his view that this is a critical place for the U.S. in terms of how we strengthen our relationship with many longstanding partners, allies — countries who all are extremely important to the United States and where we’re seeking to do more.
I think our vision is very much that we want to strengthen our bilateral ties, but there’s also a recognition that in order to be able to strengthen our bilateral ties with countries in Southeast Asia, we need to be able to work with ASEAN.  ASEAN is extremely important, as all of you know, to countries throughout Southeast Asia, and without a strong relationship and investment in strengthening that relationship, I think the best [inaudible] is the decision to elevate the relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.  Without that, we are not able to really have the kind of broader position in Southeast Asia that we want.
I think that the President very much appreciated the opportunity to spend time with his fellow leaders, and he was grateful to them that they made the trip.  He knows it’s a very long way.  I think that the dinner was very special, in part because it was very small and very intimate and they had very, very good conversations.  I think that also we thought it was very important to host this in Washington.  As Dan mentioned, we’ve only done a special summit like this one other time, and that was in Sunnylands in 2016, which I would just note, parenthetically, Dan was in the job that I currently hold and was the driving force behind doing that.
And I think that we felt that this time, part of the argument for doing it in Washington, from our standpoint, was to make clear that the idea of strengthening ties with ASEAN is important not just to the White House, not just to the State Department, but it is important to departments and agencies across the U.S. Government.  And so, we were very happy at how many of our Cabinet-level officials participated in discussions.
I think there’s been a lot of focus, I think, on some of the symbolic aspects of this, but there’s also been a lot of focus on the assistance that was announced and that there is cooperation.  I think that for us – and it’s been said – this is very important.  These are things that we want to do with ASEAN, as compared to things that we’re doing bilaterally, that we’re doing with ongoing efforts.  These reflect new areas of cooperation and areas that we believe are important to ASEAN.  And one of the things that we’ve learned is that we need to make sure that we’re responding to what ASEAN partners want.
And so, from our standpoint, some of the key things that were announced reflect what we have heard from our ASEAN partners as areas that they would like to see the U.S. do more.  I would also note the significance of the Joint Vision Statement.  I think that there is not always a history of getting joint vision statements when ASEAN meets with its dialogue partners.  We felt it was very important to have one, and we were very, very encouraged by the enthusiasm and constructive approach that ASEAN countries took to doing this.  And we believe that this is a significant statement that reflects areas that the U.S. and ASEAN have strengthened our cooperation; we have further aligned our visions; and that it reflects also we’re going forward and strengthening those ties in the future.
The last thing I would say is we are particularly proud of the people-to-people aspect of this.  And in that regard, and particularly, we’re happy to be able to announce the U.S.-ASEAN Institute for Rising Leaders that will be hosted by the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington.  I think that from our standpoint, this reflects what we see as one of the things that really undergirds the U.S. partnership with ASEAN, which is the people-to-people ties, which we see as being extremely important and something that we’re very, very proud of and believe we need to do more to expand.
So with that, let me hand it over to Zia.  Thank you.
Moderator:  Thank you very much.  We’ll now begin the question and answer portion of today’s call.  Our first question will go to Sui-Lee Wee from The New York Times in Singapore.  Sui-Lee, if you could please go ahead.
Question:  Thank you.  So I have two questions.  First, is there an effort to persuade Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo to disinvite Russia from the G20 summit?  And if so, what was the response?
And related to that, did the administration try to press Vietnam to distance itself from Russia or try to convince other countries, such as Indonesia and Thailand, the countries that have been less vocal about their criticism against Russia, to speak up more?  Thank you.
Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink:  Thank you very much.  Edgard, do you want to take those or do you want me to take an initial stab?
Mr. Kagan:  Sure.  I’ll take that.  I think that we were very focused on the importance of discussions with ASEAN as an organization, the leaders, about ASEAN and about Southeast Asia.  So, I think that there was – the President discussed his views on what is happening in Ukraine and the importance of a strong international response.  I don’t think that there was a particular focus on trying to persuade countries to distance themselves.  I think that there was, however, a focus on making sure the countries understood the U.S. perspective on this, a perspective which is shared by quite a few other countries.
And I think that we were satisfied with some of the movement and the language that emerged in the joint statement.  I think that we recognize that every country in the region has its own different history, and that some of this means that some of them have closer ties to Russia.  I think our view is that all of them appreciate the significance of standing up for sovereignty and independence and territorial integrity.  I think that they very clearly referred to the importance of respecting the UN Charter.  And so from our standpoint, we believe that this is the kind of progress that we believe is happening as countries come to grips with the significance of what is happening and the totality of the brutality of what is happening in Ukraine.
Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink:  Edgard, thanks very much.  And if I could just add just a minor point or two to that, and I fully agree with everything that Edgard said.  I was just quite struck in the conversations among the leaders, how many ASEAN leaders spoke out to again express their deep concern over Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.  And as you saw in the Joint Vision Statement that Edgard highlighted, there was unanimous agreement, as we outlined in the Joint Vision Statement, that all of us must respect the sovereignty, political independence, and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
So, certainly the President made very clear our deep concerns over that.  But again, I was quite gratified and impressed by the number of ASEAN leaders that spoke out to express their concerns as well.  And I think as Edgard has noted, I think there is definitely a consensus, a strong consensus, around reaffirming our respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity.
Moderator:  Thank you.  Next if we could go to Kym Bergmann from Asia Pacific Defence in Canberra, Australia.  Kym, please go ahead.
Question:  Gentlemen, thank you very much for your time, and again, I’d like to say just how important these briefings are for the media.  My question relates to the South China Sea.  And I see in the Vision Statement you refer to the importance of undertaking confidence-building measures and practical measures also to reduce tensions.  So could you speak to that a little, about what you actually have in mind?
Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink:  Thank you very much for your question.  I would say it is perfectly natural that in a U.S.-ASEAN summit that there would be a focus on maritime issues, particularly in the South China Sea.  And I think both in the discussions among the leaders and in the Joint Vision Statement, I think you can see where the consensus lies amongst us.  We are focused on ensuring peace and stability and prosperity across the South China Sea.  We’re focused on ensuring that the key to maintaining peace, security, and stability in the region is ensuring that all disputes and all behavior are both resolved in, and rooted in international law, including UNCLOS.  We reiterated our support for freedom of navigation and overflight.  We also stated our support for the full implementation of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties, and also we support an environment conducive to a code of conduct on the South China Sea while emphasizing that any code of conduct has to be consistent with international law.
I think apart from that as well, as you can see in the Joint Vision Statement, there is a focus on practical cooperation in the maritime domain.  Part of that is represented by the new programs that were announced in our fact sheet that will be implemented by the Coast Guard, which are focused on developing the capacity and the capabilities of our partners in the region to achieve maritime domain awareness so they understand what is happening in their maritime domains and territories; practical work we can take together on countering illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; and at an even more practical level, developing capabilities in search and rescue and other areas.
So, the point I’m trying to make is I think this was both a high-level diplomatic conversation underscoring the principles that we all hold dear vis-à-vis the South China Sea, coupled with very practical assistance designed to raise the capacity of our partners to defend their interests and exploit the resources in the South China Sea.
But those are my comments.  Edgard, I didn’t know if you wanted to add anything to that.
Mr. Kagan:  The only thing I would add is that I think that during the discussions themselves, our view is that there are some very strong statements on the South China Sea and on the importance of living up to some basic principles of international law.  I think that we left here feeling that there’s actually more alignment between our views and those of ASEAN as a group, as compared to some of the bilateral discussions than we had expected.
So, for us, I think we feel that we have a very similar perspective in many ways on the South China Sea and the fact that we were able to get a joint statement, and one that was so clear on basic principles and values I think from our standpoint, was quite positive.
Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink:  I think that’s so true, and if I could just foot-stomp Edgard’s comment about how pleased we are with the Joint Vision Statement.  I think we believe that the Joint Vision Statement is truly comprehensive, it’s strategic, and really represents a convergence of interest between the United States and ASEAN.  As Edgard underscored earlier, we strongly support ASEAN centrality and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, and I think you can really see the convergence of our interests and our values and our views on the region in that statement, including on maritime issues.
Moderator:  Thank you.  Next, we’ll go to Lyn Bacani from Marino World, here in the Philippines.  Lyn, please go ahead.
Question:  Yes, good morning.  I’m Lyn Bacani from Marino World, Philippines.  What are your expectations from our newly elected President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., given that the Philippines became a founding member of the ASEAN during his father’s presidency?
Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink:  Well, thank you very much for that.  Edgard, I wondered if maybe you wanted to start by —
Mr. Kagan:  Yes.  I think that I want to be cautious.  I think we recognize that there is only one president at a time.  The inauguration has not yet taken place.  I want to be cautious about saying anything having to do with expectations.  I think our broader desire is to continue strengthening our bilateral relationship, and we very much believe that it is in keeping with strengthening our bilateral relationship to work together more closely in the context of ASEAN.
I think that our belief is that ASEAN offers a number of avenues for countries in the region to work together to advance common interests, and as I said before, we believe that working with ASEAN helps us also simultaneously strengthen bilateral relationships, and stronger bilateral relationships help us work better in ASEAN.  And our sincere expectation is that we find ways to strengthen the bilateral relationship between the United States and the Philippines, and at the same time that we are able to work together very effectively in the context of ASEAN.
Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink:  And Edgard, if I could, the only thing I would add, of course, was the phone call that Senior Director Kagan helped arrange that President Biden placed to President-elect Marcos in which the President underscored he looks forward to working with the president-elect to continue strengthening our alliance and expanding our cooperation on a broad range of issues.  So, I think between Edgard’s comments and, of course, the President’s call, I think you can see that we’re very much looking forward with the new president-elect, once he’s inaugurated, to further strengthen our alliance.
Moderator:  Thank you.  Next if we could go to Danh Le Thanh with VnExpress in Vietnam.  Danh, if you’re there.
Question:  I’m Danh from VnExpress, Vietnam.  Thank you for taking my question.  So, I wonder if you can share some details on the conversation between President Biden and Prime Minister of Vietnam Phạm Minh Chính at the dinner in the White House, and what are the plans for cooperation between the two countries in the future?  Thank you.
Mr. Kagan:  Well, I’m going to let Dan, as a former U.S. ambassador to Vietnam, take the lead on that one.
Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink:  Thank you, Edgard, and thank you very much.  Really want to give a shout-out to all of my friends at VnExpress, and really appreciate your question.
I think what I could do maybe most productively is to share a little bit about some of the issues that were discussed in the summit itself with the prime minister and then maybe share a little bit about the meeting that Secretary Blinken also had with the prime minister.
Let me start by saying we, of course, were absolutely honored to have Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính representing Vietnam at the summit, and it was a great opportunity for him to engage with the President, the Vice President, and the Secretary of State, the National Security Advisor, and other leaders.
I think in the summit itself, we were very grateful that Prime Minister Chính, of course, spoke at every session, including on a broad range of issues, including our desire to combat climate change, to combat the spread of COVID-19, and of course to advance the shared principles on maritime-related matters that we’ve referred to elsewhere.
On the broader question of what our hopes and expectations for our very important partnership with Vietnam, I would refer to the very productive meeting that Secretary Blinken had with the prime minister.  And I think it was quite representative of the strong partnership that we’ve built with Vietnam.  It was a broad, substantive conversation related to our shared interests related to security, economics and prosperity, the environment, climate change, clean energy, combating COVID-19, and further growing our very strong people-to-people ties.
So again, while this summit was designed primarily to celebrate our vital partnership with ASEAN, it was also an opportunity to highlight and celebrate the incredible partnerships we have with many of the countries in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam.  And again, we were honored to have the prime minister here.
Edgard, I don’t know if you wanted to add anything to that.
Mr. Kagan:  Not much, other than to say the President enjoyed his conversation with the prime minister at dinner as he did with the other leaders.  The end — I think that worked — we felt that the dinner was very special because it really was a very intimate meal.  It was only the leaders plus one.  And I think that they were able to have very candid conversations, and so the President enjoyed that very much.  That’s the kind of setting that he really enjoys.  And he enjoys getting to know fellow leaders as people as well as people representing policies in their national interests.
And so, he had a lot of respect I think for the leaders when they came in.  He met a number of them previously either as President or as vice president or when he was in the Senate.  But I think that he really enjoyed that contact and found it very useful.  I think that he is very committed to strengthening the bilateral relationships with countries in the region, and so very much enjoyed the conversation with the prime minister.
Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink:  Yes, and Edgard, maybe just one final comment.  I think what was so special about this last week is in addition to all the activities in the summit itself, we’ve talked about a number of very special events that were arranged on the margins of the summit, and I know that our friends at the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce organized multiple events with individual leaders.  I happened to attend the one organized for Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính.  And again, it was really a celebration of the U.S.-Vietnam partnership, and I thought the prime minister really eloquently laid out his vision for what Vietnam is trying to achieve and what the United States and Vietnam are trying to achieve together, including by continuing to address legacies from the past in a very productive way while we continue to build this future-oriented partnership.  And again, just as we are with ASEAN itself, we’re very hopeful for the future of our partnership with Vietnam.
Moderator:  Thank you.  I know, Mr. Kagan, you may be having to leave, but we’ll try to get in just a couple of more questions before we wrap up.
Mr. Kagan:  I’m going to have to leave – I want to apologize to everyone.  I have another call that I have to be on.  But thank you all for joining, and we really are very grateful to the ASEAN leaders, but we’re also grateful to all of you for your interest.  Thank you.
Moderator:  And we’ll continue.  Next, if we could go to Michelle Jamrisko from Bloomberg in Singapore.  Michelle, please go ahead.
Question:  Good evening and thanks for doing this call.  I just wanted to ask about the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.  There’s been some eagerness I think from many sides to get more detail on that.  I’m wondering if you could say anything about what’s come out of the summit that might help shape that framework, and whether we might hear more ahead of the President’s trip to East Asia this month.
Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink:  Well, Michelle, thanks very much for that.  Look, I think we’ve spoken in various fora about the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.  I would just remind colleagues on the line that the President announced our general plans for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework at the East Asia Summit and at the U.S.-ASEAN summit last fall.  I believe it was October of 2021.  And over the past few months, I think as many of you have been tracking, we’ve been working with partners across the region, including many in ASEAN, to define our shared objectives around I think some of the most important issues related to the 21st century economy, including trade facilitation, standards for the digital economy and technology, supply chain resiliency, decarbonization and clean energy infrastructure, worker standards, and several other areas.
So we’re indeed working intensively to develop the framework.  We’re encouraged to see the intense interest in it so far.  And I anticipate you’ll hear more from us on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework soon.
Moderator:  Thank you, Assistant Secretary.  Next if we could go to Elvis Chang from NTDAPTV in Taiwan.  Elvis, please go ahead.
Question:  My question is: did the summit reach any consensus or results on the Taiwan issue?  Thank you.
Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink:  Thank you Elvis for the question.  I think what I would say is this – I don’t recall the issue of Taiwan or cross-strait issues being discussed explicitly in the summit itself.  I’m sure you and many of our friends on the call are well aware with the longstanding American position on cross-strait issues and our “One China” policy as determined by the Taiwan Relations Act, the Three Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances to Taiwan.  And I’d be happy to address any questions you have on that.
But I don’t believe that Taiwan and cross-strait issues were discussed specifically in the context of the summit itself.  And I think, candidly speaking, I think that would be somewhat natural given the nature of the agenda between the United States and ASEAN at this summit.
Moderator:  Excellent.  I appreciate all the time here, Assistant Secretary.  If it’s okay, we will take one more question and then we’ll wrap up.  For our last question we can go to —
Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink:  I always enjoy interacting with the press and I’m really, really grateful for all our friends in the region for spending time with us.  Let’s do one more.
Moderator:  Okay, excellent.  Thank you.  Actually, we will go back to Kym Bergmann from Asia Pacific Defence in Canberra, who’s back in the queue.  Kym, please go ahead.
Question:  Great, thank you.  I feel greedy for getting a second question.  But I return to the vision statement and circumstances in Ukraine.  I note in the vision statement that it doesn’t actually mention Russia and doesn’t use the phrase “Russian aggression,” and I’m not underestimating the difficulties at all of getting consensus amongst so many different countries.  But was that just a little bit of a bridge too far, hoping for something firmer?
Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink:  No, I appreciate that, Kym.  Look, I would just reiterate what we said earlier on the call.  We’re really proud of the Joint Vision Statement.  I think it represents a very strong consensus between the United States and our partners in ASEAN, including on the Ukraine issue.  And I think the details of that paragraph reflect the consensus reached among our ten partners in ASEAN and the United States, and I think I’ll leave it at that.
I think you know very well what the U.S. position is.  I think, as I’ve noted here in our call tonight, that I was quite struck in the plenary session in particular – the forcefulness of the views expressed by some of our friends in ASEAN about their deep concern over Russia’s egregious invasion, egregious and unprovoked and unwarranted invasion of Ukraine.  But I think the paragraph as you read it, again, reflects the consensus that we reached among all ten and the United States.
Moderator:  Thank you very much.  Well, that will conclude today’s call.  I want to thank Daniel J. Kritenrbrink, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, and Edgard Kagan, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for East Asia and Oceania on the National Security Council.  And also I want to thank all of you for participating in this briefing and for asking your questions.
Please stay on the line for information regarding access to an audio recording of the call.  Also, please be aware that a transcript of the call will be posted to our social media platforms and sent out to all of you within a day.  If you have any questions about today’s call, you may contact the Asia Pacific Media Hub at AsiaPacMedia@state.gov.  Thank you.