MANILA, Philippines — America's response to security and socioeconomic issues in Asia Pacific is seen to improve under the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden, a US-based think tank has said.
Center for Strategic and International Studies' (CSIS) Ernie Bower in a virtual forum by the Stratbase ADR Institute said diplomacy is likely to be given emphasis by the US in addressing issues in region.
Related Stories
"There will be more investment in process and understanding and diplomacy, and I think this will be a more productive process," he said at the institute's Pilipinas Conference on November 27.
US media has reported that Biden, who had served as vice president to Barack Obama and denied President Donald Trump a second term, is likely to appoint a czar for Asia.
Such could signal a shift in policy to what the Trump administration has adopted in its four years that put more emphasis on America and less involvement in other countries' affairs.
Bowers said the return of "middle management in US engagement" in Asia could be expected, with more officials seen onboard to focus on the region.
Maritime disputes in the region have emerged as one of its top security concerns over the years, as China continues its aggressive stance in asserting presence over areas which the Philippines, along with other Southeast Asian countries, have been contesting.
President Rodrigo Duterte in his speech before the United Nations General Assembly in September raised the country's arbitral win in the Hague in 2016 against China.
His remarks had drawn praise even from critics, as it was the first time in his four years that he asserted the ruling after pivoting Manila toward Beijing.
Such ran counter to the tone he had adopted in his State of the Nation Address in July, where he admitted that the country does not stand a chance in reclaiming its territory with China "having the arms" and the Philippines not equipped for war.
Significantly, it was also different from his vow as a candidate for president in the 2016 elections where he said he would plant the Philippine flag in the disputed territory riding a jet ski.
RELATED: Duterte backs out of jet ski ride to Benham Rise
He had since been challenged to match his words with actions, with his address coming after repeated instances of Filipinos being harassed over the disputed waters by the Chinese.
Malacañang has said that it is welcome to working with the new administration in the US come January 2021. Like much of the world along with its neighbors, therefore, the country will await Biden's approach on issues such as the longstanding territorial disputes in Asia.
Bowers said that while the new administration will adopt a more careful diplomacy, it would not mean a weakening of its commitment, along with a "more ASEAN centrality and less America-first" stance.
"That doesn't mean diminishment of the US commitment to the Philippines' free access or standing up to Chinese," he said. "What is seen by many as Chinese coercion in the South China Sea, but it will be strength with diplomacy rather than just strength and blunt words."
Stratbase ADR's president Dindo Manhit, meanwhile, sought to remind that Asian countries above all bear the responsibility of keeping a rules-based order in the region.
"There is a crucial need for middle powers to recognize their role and the importance of creating a network of like-minded states to protect and maintain an open and multipolar Indo-Pacific region," he said in the same virtual forum.
President Trump has given the go signal for the transition process to a Biden administration to begin, even as he continues to float electoral fraud claims without evidence and his campaign team suffering defeats in courts.
Biden along with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, the nation's first woman and person of color to ascend to the second highest post, will begin their term at noon of January 20, 2021. — Christian Deiparine