US officials said that Secretary of State Anthony Brinken will attend the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Annual Meeting and so on.

A senior U.S. State Department official said on Saturday that the top U.S. diplomat will have a virtual meeting with Southeast Asian officials next week as President Joe Biden’s administration is trying to show that the region is a priority and is also addressing the Myanmar crisis.

U.S. Secretary of State Blincoln will attend virtual meetings for five consecutive days, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other 10 foreign long-term annual meetings and separate meetings in Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand in the lower Mekong subregion.

“I think this clearly shows our commitment to the region,” the State Department official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.

In recent years, senior US officials have not always participated in ASEAN meetings, and sometimes more junior officials have been sent to summits in the region.

The virtual meeting was held after the Biden administration was seen as indifferent to this area of ??more than 600 million people in the early days. Major foreign policy challenges.

But in recent months, senior US officials have conducted a series of visits to the region.

Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman visited Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand in May and June, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited Vietnam and the Philippines this week, and Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Singapore and Vietnam.

On Sunday, the United States shipped 3 million doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to Vietnam and also shipped vaccines to other Southeast Asian countries.

However, due to India’s export ban, its March agreement with Japan, Australia and India to provide the region with 1 billion doses of vaccine stalled.

By the middle of next week, the United States will donate 23 million doses of vaccines to countries in the region, which are experiencing a surge in coronavirus-related coronaviruses. Highly infectious Delta variant.

Representatives of the Myanmar military government will also attend the meeting next week.

The country’s military rulers have been A series of U.S. sanctions As the army launched a coup and arrested Aung San Suu Kyi and other elected leaders on February 1, widespread protests arose.

During a meeting with ASEAN foreign ministers earlier this month, Brinken Call Countries have taken action to end violence in Myanmar and restore democracy.

At the same time, the United Kingdom warn This week, half of Myanmar’s 54 million population may be infected with COVID-19 in the next two weeks.

Barbara Woodward, the British ambassador to the United Nations, said in an informal discussion on Myanmar at the Security Council: “The virus is spreading among people, indeed very fast.” “It is estimated that in the next two weeks, Half of Myanmar’s population may be infected with COVID,” she said.