policy, the Republic of Korea’s New Southern Policy, Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) Outlook on the Indo-Pacific. Many of these concepts and approaches are resonating globally, with countries such as France and Germany publishing their own policy frameworks for the Indo-Pacific.
This growing alignment of strategic approaches in the region is perhaps nowhere more noteworthy than in the growth of the U.S.-Japan alliance during the last four years. President Trump grasped the strategic resonance of the concept of a free and open Indo-Pacific, first advanced by Japan. In a speech in 2007 in India, then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for a “broader Asia” spanning the Pacific and Indian Oceans – “seas of freedom and prosperity, which will be open and transparent to all.” In Nairobi, Kenya, in 2016, Prime Minster Abe further articulated the concept’s panoramic reach, calling for the region, from Africa to Asia, to develop as “a place that values freedom, the rule of law, and the market economy, free from force or coercion, and […] prosperous.”
In Da Nang, Vietnam, in 2017, during the longest trip to the region in more than a quarter century by a U.S. President, President Trump built on Prime Minister Abe’s vision, calling for a free and open Indo-Pacific. The region, according to President Trump, is a place where sovereign and independent nations, with diverse cultures and many different dreams, can all prosper side-by-side, and thrive in freedom and peace.”
In April and October 2018, senior officials from the U.S. National Security Council staff and Departments of State and Defense convened representatives from countries across the region in Honolulu to discuss the U.S. vision for the Indo-Pacific and invite representatives from each country to share their own perspectives on concepts and actions to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific. Working collaboratively, participants identified common principles shared by diverse countries all over the region. These principles included the importance of sovereignty, rule of law, and accountability to the public; the centrality of ASEAN in regional architecture; the importance of open commons of the sea, overflight, and cyberspace; the peaceful resolution of territorial and maritime disputes; free, fair, and reciprocal trade; and investment and regional integration through connectivity and investment projects that are financed transparently and improve social and environmental outcomes.
The declassification of the Framework today demonstrates, with transparency, America’s strategic commitments to the Indo-Pacific and to our allies and partners in the region. The United States views the Indo-Pacific region as “a beautiful constellation of nations, each its own bright star, satellites to none – and each one, a people, a culture, a way of life, and a home,” in the words of President Trump in Vietnam in 2017. As long as nations work together to keep the region free and open, we can ensure that that this vision continues to inspire long into the future.
Robert C. O’Brien
Assistant to the President
for National Security Affairs
January 5, 2021
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