US Secretary Antony Blinken to visit Southeast Asia, South Africa next week

Washington: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Cambodia, the Philippines, and other South African countries in the coming week, the State Department said on Friday.

The Secretary will be on travel from August 2nd through August 12th. According to the official statement, on August 3, Blinken will visit Phnom Penh in Cambodia to participate in three separate ministerial hosted by Cambodia as ASEAN chair this year.

Blinken will hold discussions with leaders of the ASEAN countries in Phnom Penh to elevate their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

“At May’s US-ASEAN Summit here in Washington, D.C., we agreed to elevate our relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The Secretary will discuss that matter with our ASEAN friends in Phnom Penh, which will lead up to the November U.S.-ASEAN Summit and East Asia Summit,” the statment read.

In Cambodia, Blinken will participate in three separate ministerial including US-ASEAN Ministerial, the East Asia Summit foreign ministers meeting, and ASEAN Regional Forum, or ARF.

He will hold a discussion on the US-ASEAN partnership, Indo-pacific, global challenges such as Climate Change, human rights and specific political and security concerns.

The Secretary will also discuss Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and hold discussions on issues related to food and energy security, which obviously have been negatively impacted by Russia’s war.

Blinken will hold bilateral meetings with Cambodian leaders, where he will stress his strong support for ASEAN and for the success of Cambodia’s chairmanship this year.

“He will also underscore the U.S. desire to have a productive and positive relationship with Cambodia, highlighting strong bilateral cooperation on issues such as DPRK sanctions enforcement, law enforcement coordination, and condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.” the official statement said.

During his visit to the Philippines, Blinken will meet the newly elected President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and the new Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo.

From August 7 to 12, the US Secretary will travel to South Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda. He will lead the US delegation to the US-South Africa Strategic Dialogue in South Africa.

Blinken will meet Rwanda President Paul Kagame and senior government officials as well as members of civil society in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.