New US push: Vaccine and Mekong
New US push: Vaccine and Mekong
A mural depicting coronavirus frontline workers along a street in Hanoi. The US sent Vietnam 2 million Moderna vaccine doses on July 6. AFP
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken used the special session with Asean last week to shore up Washington's position in Southeast Asia. He touched on China, the disputes over the South China Sea, the situation in Myanmar and the response to Covid-19, amongst others. Strangely enough, the phrase "free and open Mekong" was introduced for the first time in the latest US position regarding the most important strategic area of mainland Southeast Asia.
Most of the media reports focused exclusively on the US vitriol towards China related to the South China Sea conflict on what was, after all, the fifth anniversary of the Arb...