Top diplomats from South-east Asia convened in the Laotian capital with their powerful dialogue partners in the last of the three-day regional talks that has been grappled with tensions over territorial claims in the South China Sea, escalating fighting in Myanmar, and regional rivalry.
Meetings yesterday in Vientiane brought together in the same room allies of Asean – including the United States, China, Russia, Japan, India and Australia – to bolster their relationships and discuss key security issues and other regional affairs.
In a meeting of Asean foreign ministers with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Indonesia Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said the bloc’s good partnership with Washington should also contribute to global peace. She said they should be respecting international laws “in a consistent manner,” whether about Ukraine, the South China Sea or the crisis in Gaza.
Blinken said he hopes to work closely with the Asean nations on those matters, as well as violence in Myanmar.
The Secretary of State is expected to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, as both countries are looking to expand their influence in the region.
Indonesia said it emphasised in their opening meetings Thursday that it’s important the bloc doesn’t get drawn into any rivalry between China and the US.
Asean members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei all have conflicts with China over its claim of sovereignty over virtually all of the South China Sea, one of the world’s most crucial waterways for shipping.
Many worry that direct confrontations there could lead to broader conflict.
The Philippines has been critical over a perceived lack of support from the bloc, but in a rare deal, China and the Philippines said they had reached an agreement that they hope will end their confrontations, aiming to establish a mutually acceptable arrangement for the disputed area without conceding each other’s territorial claims.
Philippines Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo said that he had a bilateral meeting with Wang, where they agreed that they would “honour the provisional agreement in a clear and sincere effort to defuse tensions and try and prevent any incidents of course from leading to further tension in our relationship.”
The increasingly violent civil war in Myanmar is one of the other issues dominating talks.
Thailand has said the group gave their support for it to take a broader role as one of Myanmar’s immediate neighbours.
Nikorndej Balankura, spokesperson of Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that more dialogue mechanisms have been proposed to include more stakeholders, especially countries that share borders with Myanmar.
He however noted that those proposals have just been submitted to Laos, which currently chairs Asean and is in charge of recommending them directly to Myanmar to seek its approval.
Asean has been pushing a “five-point consensus” for peace, but the military leadership in Myanmar has so far ignored the plan, raising questions about the bloc’s efficiency and credibility.
The peace plan calls for the immediate cessation of violence, a dialogue among all concerned parties, mediation by an Asean special envoy, provision of humanitarian aid through Asean channels, and a visit to Myanmar by the special envoy to meet all concerned parties. — AP
