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SECRETARY BLINK: Good afternoon everyone. It’s wonderful to be back in Thailand. We had a trip planned a few months ago that was delayed due to COVID, so I’m finally happy to come here. And I reflected, in conversation with the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Don, that the first time I was here was actually in 1980, that is, 42 years ago.

As I said at the signing we had earlier today of the agreement with the Deputy Prime Minister, the strength of the relationship between our countries lies in how we are constantly evolving to try to meet the needs of our people and try and meet the challenges we face.

We work together to revitalize our economies, a key theme in my meetings with the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. We share the same goal of not just driving growth, but trying to ensure that it creates opportunities for all our employees.

We do this together, bilaterally. The United States is Thailand’s largest export market and third largest investor, and through new measures such as those we launched today to strengthen our supply chains, we will make our economies even more secure.

We do it regionally, through the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. As a fundamental partner, Thailand is taking a leading role in shaping this framework to position our workers, our businesses, our governments to lead in areas that are crucial to our common prosperity, such as clean energy, such as digital commerce. And we greatly appreciate Thailand’s leadership of APEC this year; We look forward to building on that success when the United States takes over as host next year.

We also had honest discussions today about democracy and human rights – core values ​​that we share. One of the unique strengths of democracy is the ability to acknowledge our mistakes and work to resolve them. This spirit is reflected in the communiqué on strategic alliance and partnership we signed today, which reaffirms our commitment to helping each other live up to the principles of free and open societies, as an independent civil society and free and fair elections.

We also elaborate on what has been a decade-long collaboration in public health. Thailand is a key partner in the global COVID-19 action plan that we established to try to end the acute phase of this pandemic and leave the world better prepared to prevent, detect and respond to future emergencies.

We have donated more than 2.5 million doses of safe, effective COVID-19 vaccines to Thailand – free of charge, without political requirements – while USAID has provided significant assistance to communities at the highest risk.

Our two countries work together to respond to regional challenges and regional crises. The United States is working with Thailand, and the whole of ASEAN, to pressure Burma’s regime to meet the five-point consensus, end its brutal violence and put Burma back on the path to democracy.

This morning, in fact, I had the opportunity to meet some young leaders from Burma, who, as always, are committed to building a democratic future. More than 91,000 displaced people from Burma are currently in Thailand, part of the nation’s proud tradition of receiving refugees.

For decades, the United States has supported this effort here in Thailand, including $ 45 million in humanitarian aid this year alone.

Finally, we deepen the bonds, the connections between our peoples.

Today I met some Thai alumni from the Fulbright program, the International Visitor Leadership Program and the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative. More than 5,000 Thais have participated in these programs over the years. They have been enriched by their interactions with Americans, just as Americans have benefited from their engagement with Thai students, scholars, innovators and leaders.

Few people in history have done more to promote these ties than the great diplomat, Thanat Khoman. Among his many contributions, he pushed for Thailand to become one of the first countries to host peacekeeping volunteers from the United States. And when asked why, he said: “It’s good for the authorities to get in touch with each other, but it’s even more important for people to get in touch with each other, to have first-hand knowledge, first-hand experience, and also first-hand ideas about what we should do in this world to maintain peace and develop friendly relations. “

So I am grateful that all these years later we continue to find new ways to bring our authorities together, but, more importantly, to bring our people together for the benefit of us all.

So I want to thank the government and the people of Thailand for hosting us today, on a Sunday. And with that, I like to take some questions. Thank you.

MODERATOR: We start with Shaun Tandon from AFP.

QUESTION: Yes. Thank you, Mr Secretary. Can I follow up on the comments you made about Burma / Myanmar? You talked about the five-point consensus, but of course it’s been over a year since ASEAN put it forward. It is over a year since the United States imposed sanctions on the junta. Are you still sure that this approach works? What else can be done? What else can the United States do to restore democracy, to help restore democracy in Burma?

Can I follow up on a few points on that? The Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, was also recently – in addition to being in Bali, he was also recently in Myanmar. Do you see his efforts and China’s efforts helping or hindering diplomacy as ASEAN and the United States do in Burma?

And on that, some have asked the United States to formally recognize the NUG as a legitimate government in Myanmar. Is there anything on the cards, including a Washington office? Thanks.

SECRETARY BLINK: Thank you. See, as a bottom line, I think it is unfortunately safe to say that we have not seen any positive movement. And on the contrary, we continue to see the oppression of the Burmese people. We continue to see violence perpetrated against them by the regime. We continue to see virtually the entire opposition in prison or in exile. And we continue to see a terrible humanitarian situation, exacerbated by the fact that the regime is not delivering what is needed for the people. And it also puts real pressure on Thailand when people flee the violence, from the oppression, in Burma.

On that note, I must say that we greatly appreciate what Thailand has done to try to facilitate cross-border assistance, to try to expand cooperation on, for example, getting covid-19 vaccines for people in Burma and displaced persons. I think there is even more we can do to ensure that humanitarian organizations have access to people along the border to ensure that they get the help they need.

But look, at this point I’m thinking of a few things. One, all countries must continue to speak clearly about what the regime is doing in its ongoing repression and brutality. We have an obligation to the people of Burma to hold the regime accountable. Regional support for the regime’s endorsement of the five-point consensus developed by ASEAN is also critical. That has not happened, and I think all the ASEAN countries must hold the regime accountable for it, in order to continue to demand an immediate end to violence, the release of political prisoners and the restoration of Burma’s democratic path.

But to date, we have not seen positive movement in that direction. We will continue to look for ways we can – and other countries can effectively put pressure on the regime to return to the democratic path, and we do so on a regular basis. That was part of the conversation we had today.

I can not speak directly to what China does or does not do in Burma, but I think it is also incumbent on China, and in China’s interests, to see Burma go back to the way it was and it was so violently disturbed by the coup.

I think this is something we are deeply focused on, although of course we spend a lot of time on Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. We have not lost sight of Burma, we have not lost sight of the people. I had an opportunity today to sit down with some remarkable young people from Burma to talk about what they see as the country’s democratic future, and we work with young people, we work with the National Unity Government, we work with other real people. representatives of the Burmese people, and we will continue to do so, including supporting the work of the NUG.

MODERATOR: I would like to contact Mr. Chanchai Pratheepwattanawong.

QUESTION: China recently confirmed that President Xi Jinping will attend the APEC summit in November. Any updates from the US government on whether President Biden will also attend?

SECRETARY BLINK: Well, we are very much looking forward to attending the APEC summit, and as I mentioned, we will also take the APEC baton next year. So we are – we spent some time talking to our friends here in Thailand about their leadership of APEC, what lessons we can learn when we take the baton. I can not yet say who will participate, but the United States will be present.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr Secretary.

QUESTION: In Sri Lanka, can you comment on the crisis there, since the country is facing the worst economic crisis since independence, and the president is going to step down next week? Do you want to attribute to the crisis the price increase of food and energy related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and if it would cause similar instability in other parts of the world?

And individually, if I know about China, to follow up on the previous question, is there any progress in strengthening the next interaction between President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, and whether there are prospects for the first face-to-face meeting between them at the G20 summit? Thank you.

SECRETARY BLINK: Thank you, Nike. When it comes to Sri Lanka more generally, this is something we are following closely. We look at political developments. We have now seen thousands of people with all backgrounds take to the streets, in search of responsibility, in search of openness, in search of a better future.

I will note that the Prime Minister announced that he will resign when all parties agree to form a new government. We have also seen reports from the Sri Lankan parliament, the speaker, who said that the president intends to step down on 13 July. We track all of this.

By the way, we would urge the Sri Lankan Parliament to approach this with a commitment to improving the country, not just any political party.

And then it is the duty of the government, whether it is a new, constitutionally elected government, the existing government, to work quickly to try to identify and implement solutions that will bring back the prospects of long-term economic stability, address the discontent of the Sri Lankan people, which is so powerful and tangible, over the deteriorating economic conditions, including power, including food – and I’ll come back to that in a minute – including fuel shortages.

At the same time, as we watch this unfold, we condemn all violence against peaceful protesters and journalists. The Sri Lankan people have the right to raise their voices peacefully. At the same time, we ask for a complete investigation, arrest, prosecution of all those involved in protest-related violence and incidents of violence.

You asked about the impact of the Russian aggression in Ukraine on food insecurity and potentially the impact on Sir Lanka. Well, I think we are seeing that impact around the world, and it may be one of the contributing factors to what has happened in Sri Lanka, although I think it was, as I just said, many others who have come together.

But what we are seeing around the world is growing food insecurity, which has been significantly exacerbated by Russian aggression against Ukraine. And as we have had the opportunity to discuss in recent days, there are more than 20 million tons of grain sitting in silos in Ukraine that can not get out, can not get out to feed people around the world because Russia is blocks Ukraine’s ports in Odessa, Black Sea.

We have a fertilizer crisis that really hits here in Thailand, fertilizer shortages, prices that have gone sky high. It is very important, especially in a farming country, a vibrant farming country like Thailand, because in the absence of fertilizer we know that it means that crops next year will go down, prices will potentially go up. That’s one of the reasons why President Biden dedicated half a billion dollars a few weeks ago to stimulating more fertilizer production in the United States that we can share with the world.

So we see the impact of this Russian aggression playing out everywhere. This in turn may have contributed to the situation in Sri Lanka. We are concerned about the implications it has around the world. We are working very hard to meet these implications, including by investing significant resources in meeting humanitarian needs from food security right now, as well as investing in long-term production and sustainability, so that countries have the resources to produce the food they need over time.

And so, with regard to President Xi and President Biden, our expectation is that they will have an opportunity to speak in the coming weeks, and I can not speak of what may happen in the autumn.

MODERATOR: We take one last question from Mr. Jompol Daosukho.

QUESTION: Hi. Can you make it clear – about the role of the US government in the Asia-Pacific, called the Indo-Pacific? Because some Thais get too worried about your role. Some say that the US government will build the new version of NATO in our region. Can you make it clear that it is or not?

SECRETARY BLINK: Thank you. We have a commitment to and a vision of – which I believe is shared with many other countries – about this region and its future, one that is free, one that is open, one that is secure. And that means, among other things, that people, products, investments can move freely and go where needed. This means that countries can make their own decisions about their own future, their own policies, free from coercion by anyone else. This means that people in these countries can live freely, speak freely and strive for an even better life in the future. This is the future we are trying to build.

And we do it in a number of ways. We do this by, for example, working very closely with ASEAN as well as within APEC. We are doing this through some new initiatives that we have launched, including the so-called Quad which involves India, which involves Japan, which involves Australia, where we have, among other things, come together to be able to produce and distribute many, many vaccines to deal with COVID- 19. We do this through the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, which seeks to address the key factors in the 21st century economy in ways that affect the lives of citizens in all our countries; the digital economy, which is becoming increasingly important; secure supply chains; the rules surrounding the use of technology, to ensure that the technology is used in a way that protects privacy and promotes freedom, does not use a tool of repression; to ensure that governance is effective and free from corruption. All of these things are part of our vision.

And the last thing I want to say is that this is not about demanding or insisting that countries choose; it’s about giving them a choice. And that is what we are focusing on.

MODERATOR: Thank you very much, everyone.

SECRETARY BLINK: Thank you. Thanks everyone.

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