Sec. 202. United States commitment and support for allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific
545 words·~2 min read·
/bill/117/s/1169/is/section-202A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
It is the sense of Congress that— the United States treaty alliances in the Indo-Pacific provide a unique strategic advantage to the United States and are among the Nation’s most precious assets, enabling the United States to advance its vital national interests, defend its territory, expand its economy through international trade and commerce, establish enduring cooperation among like-minded countries, prevent the domination of the Indo-Pacific and its surrounding maritime and air lanes by a hostile power or powers, and deter potential aggressors; the Governments of the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Australia, and Thailand are critical allies in advancing a free and open order in the Indo-Pacific region and tackling challenges with unity purpose, and have collaborated to advance specific efforts of shared interest in areas such as defense and security, economic prosperity, infrastructure connectivity, and fundamental freedoms; the United States greatly values other partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region, including with India, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, New Zealand, and Vietnam as well as regional architecture such as the Quad, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the Asia-Pacific Economic Community (APEC), which are essential to further shared interests; the security environment in the Indo-Pacific demands consistent United States and allied commitment to strengthening and advancing our alliances so that they are postured to meet these challenges, and will require sustained political will, concrete partnerships, economic, commercial, and technological cooperation, consistent and tangible commitments, high-level and extensive consultations on matters of mutual interest, mutual and shared cooperation in the acquisition of key capabilities important to allied defenses, and unified mutual support in the face of political, economic, or military coercion; fissures in the United States alliance relationships and partnerships benefit United States adversaries and weaken collective ability to advance shared interests; and the United States will work with allies to prioritize promoting human rights throughout the region.
It shall be the policy of the United States— to deepen diplomatic, economic, and security cooperation between and among the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, and Australia, including through diplomatic engagement, regional development, energy security and development, scientific and health partnerships, educational and cultural exchanges, missile defense, intelligence-sharing, space, cyber, and other diplomatic and defense-related initiatives; to uphold our multilateral and bilateral treaty obligations, including— defending Japan, including all areas under the administration of Japan, under article V of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security Between the United States of America and Japan; defending the Republic of Korea under article III of the Mutual Defense Treaty Between the United States and the Republic of Korea; defending the Philippines under article IV of the Mutual Defense Treaty Between the United States and the Republic of the Philippines; defending Thailand under the 1954 Manila Pact and the Thanat-Rusk communique of 1962; and defending Australia under article IV of the Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty; to strengthen and deepen our bilateral and regional partnerships, including with India, Taiwan, ASEAN, and New Zealand; to cooperate with Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, and Australia to promote human rights bilaterally and through regional and multilateral fora and pacts; and to strengthen and advance diplomatic, economic, and security cooperation with regional partners, such as Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and India.