WASHINGTON – The United States House of Representatives has passed the Partner with Asean Act – which would authorise Asean to be designated as an international organisation with diplomatic privileges and immunities.
This would put the regional bloc on a par with the European Union and the African Union.
The US typically extends automatic privileges and immunities to international organisations to which it belongs, but a special act of Congress is needed to extend recognition to those with which it is not a member – in this case, Asean.
The Senate will now need to pass the House version, or its own version – and if there are differences, these would be reconciled. But there are very minor differences between the two.
“Partner” is an acronym for “providing appropriate recognition and treatment needed to enhance relations”.
The Act was authored by Texas congressman Joaquin Castro and California congressman Young Kim.
Mr Castro is founder and co-chair of the bipartisan Asean Caucus and a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where he is in the subcommittee on Indo-Pacific chaired by Ms Kim.
“Today’s swift passage of the Partner with Asean Act demonstrates the deep bipartisan commitment to a strong US-Asean relationship,” said Mr Castro on Thursday.
He added: “The United States was the first non-Asean nation to appoint an ambassador to Asean, and Congress has long recognised Asean’s role in Indo-Pacific stability and prosperity. Providing routine diplomatic privileges and immunities to Asean is an important step to underscore our recognition of Asean centrality and explore new areas of cooperation.
“I thank chair Kim for her partnership on this Bill and look forward to working with the Senate to move our legislation to President Biden’s desk.”
Ms Kim said: “Ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific, especially as we see economic and security threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the region and the Belt and Road Initiative, requires the United States to bolster relations with South-east Asian countries. Without meaningful engagement, we leave the region little choice but to turn to the CCP.
“I thank my colleagues for supporting the Partner with Asean Act and Representative Castro for partnering me on this bipartisan effort. As Indo-Pacific subcommittee chair, I will keep working to promote US leadership in the region, strengthen relationships with our Indo-Pacific partners and ensure freedom and sovereignty prevail on the world stage.”
Mr Charles Freeman, senior vice-president for Asia at the US Chamber of Commerce, said it was “critically important” to bolster US-Asean relations.
“The US needs to prioritise meaningful economic engagement in the Indo-Pacific region, and enhancing US-Asean ties is one of the many steps towards achieving this,” he said via Mr Castro’s office.
The legislation is “a positive step towards re-engaging the region in a proactive manner”, he added.
Mr Marc Mealy, senior vice-president for policy at the US-Asean Business Council, called the Act a “tangible deliverable” for the US under the Asean-US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, launched at the last Asean-US Summit in November 2022.
“Strengthening diplomatic, political and economic relations with trusted trade partners in Asia is vital to the interests of America-based companies, farmers and workers,” he said.
