WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will aim to assert America's global leadership during his upcoming trip to Southeast Asia that will be shadowed by a verdict on his presidency after Tuesday's elections.
The foreign policy challenges that have helped define Biden's first two years in office -– Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the increasing influence of China -– will be on full display at a pair of summits in the region. Biden is preparing for a potential one-on-one meeting with a newly empowered Xi Jinping, who last month won an custom-shattering third term as China's Community Party leader.
Biden will also be confronted by global economic challenges at the Group of 20 summit, an annual gathering of leaders from the world's largest economies. He also will try to assure the nearly dozen countries that are part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that the United States is invested in the region at a time when China is also stepping up its influence.
The ASEAN summit is in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Bali, Indonesia, is the site of the G-20 summit.
Before that, Biden will stop in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, at the U.N. climate conference, known as COP27. Unlike last year's conference in Glasgow, Scotland, the president will arrive at this year's gathering able to point to significant achievements at home, with the August signing of legislation that will deliver the biggest investment in U.S. history to…
