Mr. Biden’s overall goal of putting Allies and partners at the center of his foreign policy is evident in Southeast Asia. A succession of senior American officials have visited the region; Secretary Blinken held video talks with ASEAN foreign ministers; Blinken and Secretary Austin hosted some Southeast Asian counterparts in Washington; Deputy Secretary Sherman met with the 10 ASEAN ambassadors to the United States. Perhaps most importantly, Mr Biden attended the US-ASEAN summit and the East Asia Summit by video – reversing years of offending regional leaders by sending lower-level officials. The Biden administration has also backed off some tough language on competition with China. In February, Mr. Biden said Washington was in a “fierce competition” with Beijing. But ahead of Sherman’s visit to China in July, she said she was looking for potential areas of cooperation and called for “guardrails” to be installed in U.S.-China relations so that the two sides would not unnecessarily escalate the situation. The change in tone has been welcomed across Southeast Asia. Related to this, the Biden team has made it clear that Southeast Asian alliances with the US are not required. This has worked well in Southeast Asia, where countries certainly do not want to be forced to side with Washington or Beijing, which could lead to retaliatory action from the other side. Another positive trend is that US relations with Southeast Asia under Mr Biden are not just about China. The U.S. government has a broad international agenda that includes as many points as climate change, global supply chains and post-pandemic recovery.