U.S. experts say Biden's comprehensive Indo-Pacific economic framework isn't comprehensive at all.As the first year of the Biden administration draws to a close, how is the U.S. progressing in Southeast Asia? This area is critical and the trends are worrying. Despite a year-long Indo-Pacific strategy, Washington has yet to develop a clear trade agenda.

Biden's overall goal of putting allies and partners at the center of his foreign policy is evident in Southeast Asia. A string of senior U.S. officials visited the region; Secretary of State Blinken held a video conference with ASEAN foreign ministers; Blinken and Defense Secretary Austin hosted some Southeast Asian colleagues in Washington; Deputy Secretary of State Sherman met with the ten ASEAN ambassadors to the United States. Perhaps most importantly, Biden attended the U.S.-ASEAN and East Asia summits by video — reversing years of U.S. attendance at lower-level officials to offend regional leaders. The Biden administration has also pulled back some tough words on competition with China. In February, Biden said Washington was in a "tight competition" with Beijing. But before Sherman's visit to China in July, she said she was looking at potential areas of cooperation and called for "guardrails" to be installed in the U.S.-China relationship to prevent the two sides from needlessly escalating the situation. This shift in tone has been welcomed across Southeast Asia. On a related note, the Biden team has made it clear that Southeast Asian nations are not required to align with the United States. This works well in Southeast Asia, where countries certainly don't want to be forced to side with Washington or Beijing, which could lead to retaliation by the other side. Another positive trend is that U.S. relations with Southeast Asian countries under Biden are not just about China. The U.S. government has a broad international agenda that includes many elements of climate change, global supply chains and post-pandemic recovery.

Still, Biden's decision not to have bilateral talks with any of the Southeast Asian leaders in his first year in office is troubling. By contrast, Biden has already met at the White House with leaders of Japan, South Korea, Australia and India to underscore the importance of the so-called "Indo-Pacific region." Interlocutors in the Southeast Asian country did not know why they did not even receive a call. Likewise, the fact that Blinken has just made his first visit to the region sends another signal that the Southeast Asian nation is low on the list of priorities. In one unfortunate episode, a technical glitch prevented Blinken from participating in a video conference of ASEAN foreign ministers in May, which is said to have angered Indonesia's foreign minister, who refused to open her video. ASEAN countries are very sensitive to being ignored or marginalized. Separately, the so-called "democracy summit" hosted by the Biden administration in December reinforced the position that Washington intends to put first. Only three ASEAN members — Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines — attended the meeting, and key U.S. allies and partners Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam were all excluded.

On top of that, Washington still lacks an Indo-Pacific strategy, which runs counter to the Biden administration's repeated use of the Indo-Pacific as its priority region and sows confusion among Southeast Asian officials. The Interim Guidance on the National Security Strategy, released in March, covered the "Indo-Pacific region," but key details were missing. In his speech in Jakarta, Indonesia, on the 14th, Blinken spoke only of a "vision", not a "strategy" for the region, further adding to the persistent disappointment in the Southeast Asian nation. Without a serious, well-crafted strategy, Southeast Asian countries are uncertain about what to expect from Washington's future presence in the region. Southeast Asian countries are also generally concerned about extra-regional alliances that could threaten ASEAN's centrality -- its desire to act as a unified bloc -- not to mention peace and stability. For example, the U.S. “Quarter Security Dialogue” with Australia, India, and Japan. So far, no ASEAN member state has joined the bloc, nor has any country explicitly supported it. Likewise, the newly signed security pact between Australia, the UK and the US has received a cold shoulder in Southeast Asia. The agreement will initially provide Canberra with nuclear-powered submarines and improve trilateral military coordination. Indonesia and Malaysia raised concerns, while Singapore - a key US partner - and Vietnam offered "implicit support". As a treaty ally of the United States, Thailand has remained silent. Generally, ASEAN will criticize any further militarization of the region.

Sending ambassadors to Southeast Asian countries has also been slow. So far, the Biden administration has only sent one approved ambassador to the region: Jonathan Kaplan, who took up his post as U.S. ambassador to Singapore earlier this month. In the case of Indonesia, Ambassador Kim isn't even focusing his full attention on the country — he's in Jakarta but juggling U.S.-Indonesia affairs and U.S. special envoy on North Korea. Such an arrangement confirms the claim that Southeast Asia is still not a priority for Washington.

Finally, a Biden administration still has no regional economic or trade policy to speak of. Since the Trump administration withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the United States has not come up with a viable alternative, whether due to lack of capacity, reluctance, or both. The follow-on trade deal, now renamed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), excluded the United States but included several Southeast Asian countries. At the same time, China joined the ASEAN-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), to which Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and 10 ASEAN countries are members. Beijing is also leveraging its economic muscle through the Belt and Road Initiative, a global investment and infrastructure program that is well-suited to Southeast Asia's needs. Washington doesn't seem to have any realistic ideas to counter the initiative.