Amid maritime disputes, Myanmar crisis, US, China attend ASEAN meetings

The Myanmar military overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.

4 minutes reading time Last update : July 27, 2024 | 10:20 a.m. IST

Southeast Asia’s top diplomats gathered in the Laotian capital on Saturday with their powerful dialogue partners for the last of three days of regional talks that focused on tensions over territorial claims in the South China Sea, escalating fighting in Myanmar and regional rivalry.

Saturday’s meetings will bring together in the same room allies from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including the United States, China, Russia, Japan, India and Australia, to strengthen their relations and discuss key security issues and other regional affairs.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Vientiane on Saturday to meet with ASEAN foreign ministers. He is also expected to meet his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the meeting, as both countries seek to expand their influence in the region.

Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith opened the first meeting of the day with China, Japan and South Korea by saying he hoped the cooperation framework, called ASEAN Plus Three, would continue to “strengthen our regional integration and economic resilience, ensuring our supply chains remain robust and adaptable to future challenges.”

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said cooperation between the partners has diversified beyond just financial cooperation, stressing the importance of not only economic cooperation but also stability, peace and security.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was also in Vientiane and already held direct talks with Wang on Thursday.

Participants in these meetings represent either key U.S. allies and partners or Washington’s two biggest rivals, Moscow and Beijing, which have grown closer in the past two years, raising deep concerns about their combined global influence.

Indonesia said it stressed at their opening meetings on Thursday that it was important for the bloc not to get drawn into a situation where China and the United States seek to expand their influence in the region.

Among other topics, Blinken will discuss economic cooperation, the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar and territorial disputes in the South China Sea during his trip to Vientiane, according to a statement from the U.S. State Department.

ASEAN members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei are all at odds with China over its claim to sovereignty over nearly the entire South China Sea, one of the world’s most important shipping lanes. Many fear that direct confrontations there could lead to a broader conflict. Indonesia has also expressed concern over what it sees as Beijing’s encroachment on its exclusive economic zone.

The United States and its allies have regularly conducted military exercises and patrols in the region to assert their “free and open Indo-Pacific” policy, including the right to navigate international waters, drawing criticism from China.

ASEAN members are divided over how to address China’s maritime claims. The Philippines has criticized ASEAN’s lack of support, but China and the Philippines have announced they have reached an agreement they hope will end their confrontations, with a view to establishing a mutually acceptable arrangement for the disputed area without conceding each other’s territorial claims.

Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said after Friday’s gala dinner that he had a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Wang, during which they agreed that they would “honor the interim agreement in a clear and sincere effort to defuse tensions and try to prevent any incident that could lead to further strain in our relations.”

The increasingly violent civil war raging in Myanmar, an ASEAN member state, is another topic dominating the discussions. Thailand has said the organization supports its desire to play a greater role as Myanmar’s immediate neighbor.

Nikorndej Balankura, a spokesman for Thailand’s foreign ministry, told reporters on Friday that new dialogue mechanisms had been proposed to include more stakeholders, particularly countries that share borders with Myanmar. He noted, however, that the proposals had just been submitted to Laos, which currently chairs ASEAN and is tasked with recommending them directly to Myanmar for approval.

The Myanmar military overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 and cracked down on widespread nonviolent protests demanding a return to democratic rule, leading to increased violence and a humanitarian crisis.

ASEAN has pushed for a “five-point consensus” for peace, but Myanmar’s military leaders have so far ignored the plan, raising questions about the bloc’s effectiveness and credibility. The peace plan calls for an immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar, dialogue between all parties concerned, mediation by an ASEAN special envoy, provision of humanitarian aid through ASEAN channels, and a visit to Myanmar by the special envoy to meet with all parties concerned.

(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First published: July 27, 2024 | 10:20 a.m. IST