WASHINGTON, 26 October 2021, (TON): U.S. President Joe Biden will take part in a virtual summit with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the first time in four years Washington will engage at the top level with a bloc it sees as key to its strategy of pushing back against China.

The U.S. embassy in Brunei told media that Biden will lead the U.S. delegation for the ASEAN-United States summit, part of a series of ASEAN leaders' meetings this week.

The United States has not joined the meetings at the presidential level since Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, attended an ASEAN-U.S. meeting in Manila in 2017.

Analysts say Biden's meeting with the 10-nation bloc reflects his administration's efforts to engage allies and partners in a collective effort to push back against China.

They expect Biden to focus on collaboration on climate change, supply chains and infrastructure.

He is also expected to assure ASEAN that a recent U.S. focus on engagement with India, Japan and Australia in the so-called Quad format and a deal to supply Australia with nuclear-powered submarines are not intended to supplant ASEAN's central role in the region.

Edgard Kagan, senior director for East Asia at the White House National Security Council, stressed last week that Washington does not see the Quad as "an Asian NATO" and that it was not intended to compete with ASEAN.