Explainer | What is the Indo-Pacific region and why does the US keep using this term?

Washington for decades referred to the vast stretch of territory between Australia and India as the Asia-Pacific but the ‘strategic lexicon’ shifted under Trump

Yet the Biden administration continues to define the region as Indo-Pacific, in line with the US foreign policy response to China’s growing influence

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US Vice-President Kamala Harris visits the littoral combat ship USS Tulsa in Singapore on August 23, 2021. Photo: US Navy/Handout

Published: 7:30am, 26 Aug 2021Updated: 2:45pm, 26 Aug 2021

During US Vice-President Kamala Harris’ major foreign policy speech in Singapore on August 24, she delivered a sharp rebuke to China for its incursions in the South China Sea, warning that Beijing’s actions constitute “coercion” and “intimidation”.

Affirming that Washington would support its allies in the region against Beijing’s advances, Harris also laid out the Biden administration’s vision for the region, saying the US would “stand united with our allies and our partners in Southeast Asia in defence of a free and open Indo-Pacific”.

The repeated reference to “Indo-Pacific”, a policy frame promoted by the Trump administration, reflects the Biden administration’s continued outreach to the region and the way US foreign policy has been recast by China’s expanding influence.

Ships from the US, Australian and Japanese defence forces conduct maritime manoeuvres during the US-led Large Scale Global Exercise 21. File photo: RAN/LSIS

When was the term ‘Indo-Pacific’ introduced?

For decades, the vast expanse of territory stretching from Australia to India was referred to in Washington as “Asia-Pacific”, although “Indo-Pacific” was commonly used among foreign policy experts, mainly in India, Indonesia and Australia.

Even before Donald Trump’s five-nation Asian tour in November 2017, White House officials and even Trump himself had started using the term “Indo-Pacific”.