Blinken to celebrate Biden legacy, reassure allies in Asia after president drops out of 2024 race

VIENTIANE, Laos (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will make the case for the Biden administration’s expanded commitment to Asia and the Indo-Pacific region more broadly as he visits Laos, Vietnam, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore and Mongolia this week and next. The trip comes as the 2024 U.S. presidential election campaign heats up after a series of bombshell developments upended the race.

Blinken, who has already modified his travel schedule twice since the trip was announced just hours after President Joe Biden made his decision not to seek re-election, arrives in Vientiane, Laos, on Saturday for the annual ASEAN Regional Forum. The security conference gathers the foreign ministers of Association of Southeast Asian Nations and regional powers like China, Australia, Japan, Russia, South Korea and India.

All participants represent either critical U.S. allies and partners or Washington’s two largest rivals – Moscow and Beijing, which have grown closer over the past two years, prompting deep concerns about their combined global influence. Just this week, U.S. and Canadian jets intercepted Chinese and Russian bombers flying jointly near Alaska. The U.S. has repeatedly accused China of helping to rebuild Russia’s military industrial base that allows it to wage its war in Ukraine.

Blinken is expected to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Vientiane but has no plans to see Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who is also attending the ASEAN conference, according to the State Department.

Despite, or perhaps due to, its major policy differences with the U.S. over Taiwan, Tibet, Hong Kong, the South China Sea, trade and human rights, China is emerging as a potential challenger to the U.S. in international