World Leaders Update: Biden to Attend G20 Summit This Week; Harris Sent to ASEAN Summit to Quell Regional Concerns

(Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
US President Joe Biden and US Vice President Kamala Harris arrive at a high-speed internet infrastructure announcement in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on June 26, 2023. Both US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are scheduled to attend the G20 and ASEAN Summits this week, respectively.

Both US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are scheduled to attend global summits happening in Asia.

Biden plans to attend the G20 summit scheduled for September 7 to 10 in India. Beforehand, China's President Xi Jinping has been speculated to not attend the summit and has designated Premier Li Qiang to represent Beijing in the meeting.

Meanwhile, Harris would represent Washington at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Indonesia to erase the bloc's doubts about US commitment to the region due to Biden's absence.

Biden 'Disappointed' with Xi's No-Show at G20 Summit

Biden told reporters Sunday (September 3) he was disappointed Xi would likely not attend the G20 summit in New Delhi, but added he would be "see[ing] him" without elaborating why, when, or how.

After G20, he would travel to Vietnam to seek US relations in Asia, Reuters reported.

"I want a little more...coordination," he said. "I think they both [India and Vietnam] want much closer relations with the United States and that can be very helpful."

This year's G20 meeting would focus on several issues, like the war in Ukraine and the tensions between China and its land and maritime neighbors with the release of its recently released map.

The last time both Biden and XI met was during the G20 summit in Indonesia last year. The BBC reported there is a possibility both leaders would have an opportunity to speak at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco, slated this November.

Putin Also a G20 No-Show, Talks with Erdogan on Grain Deal

The Kremlin also confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not attend the G20 summit.

On the other hand, he is in Sochi on Monday (September 4) and is currently meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan regarding a possible renewal of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which Russia abandoned upon its expiry last July.

Erdogan and the United Nations, who jointly brokered the deal, have since been urging Moscow to renew it in order not to cause a food shortage after the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported last month that the food price index averaged 123.9 points in July due to food products not allowed to be shipped out of Ukraine, such as wheat grain and sunflower oil.

Putin told Erdogan he would tackle the grain deal after finishing talks about establishing a natural gas hub in Turkey.

For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has also sought Erdogan's backing on the grain deal as the war in his nation continues.

Harris Sent to ASEAN Meet to Allay Regional Fears

Since the G20 and ASEAN summits are logistically scheduled close to each other, Harris has been the designated representative to the regional bloc's meeting in Jakarta.

According to the Associated Press, this trip would be her third Southeast Asian trip and fourth to Asia overall as Washington positioned her to become a key interlocutor for the Biden administration as it tries to bolster a network of partnerships to counterbalance Chinese influence, as well as to strengthen her foreign policy credentials as she prepares to run for a second term in office and a possible takeover should Biden be incapable of finishing a probable second term.

Speaking about Harris, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said she made the country's alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region a "key part of her agenda" as vice president, and also described her itinerary as "perfectly in keeping with the issues that she's been focused on."

However, Biden's absence from the ASEAN Summit remained a cause of frustration to some in the bloc, particularly because he would be visiting both India and Vietnam at around the same time. For former Indonesian foreign affairs minister Marty Natalegawa, the president's proximity would make his absence "all the more glaring than would otherwise be the case."

On the other hand, Natalegawa conceded that ASEAN was struggling to convince world leaders to consider their place and role in the region, which represents over 650 million people and has the world's fifth-largest economy combined across its 10 member-states.

Some of the factors the organization is facing are the non-resolution of the civil unrest in Myanmar, as well as China's territorial claims in the South China Sea. This creates tensions between the member nations, with the Philippines and Vietnam leaning towards Washington, while Cambodia leans toward Beijing.

"We can complain all we want about other countries not respecting us or not coming to our summits," Natalegawa added. "But ultimately, it is actually a point of reflection."

Back in Washington, Kirby rejected the purported notion of Biden's ASEAN snub, emphasizing he had already hosted the first-ever Washington Summit with ASEAN leaders last year.

However, the National University of Singapore associate professor of political science Chong Ja-Ian retorted that Harris's presence would help the US cover its bases at an event that analysts perceived might not be productive on key issues.

Meanwhile, Center for Strategic and International Studies Southeast Asia director Gregory Poling called Washington's choice to send Harris to the ASEAN Summit to fill in for Biden "unfortunate."