Biden Makes Huge Gaff’s at 2022 Asean Summit Calls Cambodia Colombia

On Saturday, US President Joe Biden referred to Cambodia as Colombia, which is hosting an international summit led by Asean Southeast Asian leaders.

“Now that we’re back together here in Cambodia, I’m looking forward to making even stronger progress than we’ve already made, and I’d like to thank the Prime Minister of Colombia for his leadership as ASEAN chair and for hosting all of us,” Biden said during a meeting with his ASEAN counterparts in Phnom Penh.

He was referring to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who currently chairs the 10-member regional bloc.

On a whirlwind trip that includes stops at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt, ASEAN in Phnom Penh, and the G20 summit in Indonesia, the president made a similar gaffe recently while speaking to reporters at the White House.

The US president, who turns 80 on November 20, announced this week that he will run for re-election in 2024, with a final decision expected early next year.

Republican critics have pointed to Biden’s occasional verbal stumbles and tendency to veer off script during live appearances as evidence that he is too old for the job. Supporters argue that the president overcame a childhood stutter and improvised in public speeches for decades.

Biden and Xi centre stage at G20

On Monday, Biden and leaders from the world’s 20 largest economies will convene on the Indonesian island of Bali for a post-pandemic reunion tempered by Sino-US rivalry and overshadowed by a superpower meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping.

With people around the world feeling the pinch of skyrocketing food and fuel prices, Ukraine embroiled in conflict, and the threat of nuclear war looming, G20 presidents and prime ministers will see what, if anything, they can agree on.

It is the largest gathering of leaders since the pandemic began. But this isn’t a happy reunion.

The rivalry between China and the United States has heightened sharply in the last three years, as Beijing has grown more powerful and assertive about replacing the US-led order that has prevailed since World War II.

The meeting between Biden and Xi on the fringes of the G20 on Monday has the air of the icy Cold War conclaves between American and Soviet leaders at Potsdam, Vienna, or Yalta that decided the fate of millions.

Biden has spoken of the meeting as establishing each country’s “red lines,” hoping that competition does not lead to confrontation and conflict.

According to US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Biden will be “completely straightforward and direct” with Xi and expect the same in return.

Biden won’t meet Putin.

Officials say he will also pressure China to rein in ally North Korea after a record-breaking series of missile tests raised fears that Pyongyang will soon conduct its seventh nuclear test.

Xi may be unwilling to assist. He comes into the meeting on the heels of securing a historic third term in office, cementing him as China’s most powerful leader in generations.

Meanwhile, Biden has been buoyed by the news that his Democratic Party retained control of the US Senate after outperforming expectations in the midterm elections, even though his domestic politics remain volatile.

One notable absence from the table will be Russian President Vladimir Putin.

His botched nine-month invasion of Ukraine has made the trip to Bali both logistically and politically difficult.

With members of his inner circle publicly feuding and his once-ironclad domestic authority tarnished, Putin chose to send veteran foreign minister Sergei Lavrov instead.

Officially, neither the Ukrainian conflict nor Putin’s dark threats to use nuclear weapons are on the summit’s agenda.

While the ex-KGB man will not be present at the summit, his war will undoubtedly be on the menu.

Soaring energy and food prices have impacted both rich and poor G20 members, and the conflict directly influences both.

When the current agreement expires on November 19, there will certainly be pressure on Russia to extend a deal allowing Ukrainian grain and fertilizer shipments through the Black Sea.

At the very least, Biden and his allies want the G20 to make it clear to Putin that nuclear war is not an option.

Even that previously uncontroversial position is likely to be stymied by a combination of the Russian opposition and Chinese reluctance to break ranks with its ally in Moscow or hand Washington a victory.

Xi recently told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that a nuclear war cannot be won and should never be fought.

Ryan Hass, a former China director at the US National Security Council, said Xi “will likely not be as magnanimous in his meeting with Biden.”

“He will not want to be seen as fulfilling a Biden request, whether on Ukraine, nuclear use, North Korea, or any other issue,” Hass told AFP.

Series of G20 ministerial meetings fail

The G20, a disparate and unwieldy grouping formed in 1999 after the Asian financial crisis, has always preferred to talk about finance and economics rather than security.

Moscow wants it to stay that way.

“We categorically reject the politicization of the G20,” the Russian foreign ministry said on Sunday, hinting at what leaders might hear from Lavrov, who is known for his tough stance.

“We are convinced that the G20 is intended to address specifically socioeconomic issues.”

Host Indonesia, wary of favouring China or the United States, is skeptical that the leaders will be able to break the impasse.

In the run-up to the summit, a series of G20 ministerial meetings failed to agree on a final joint communique – a procedural-sounding tradition that can be important in driving cooperation.

On the eve of the summit, Indonesian government minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said, “Honestly, I think the global situation has never been this complex.”

“It’s fine if (G20) leaders don’t produce a communique at some point.”