The East Asia Summit brings together eight major partners – Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the US. - Photo: Lianhe Zaobao
VIENTIANE: Singapore has called on Asean’s key partners, including the United States and China, to use their leverage over the Myanmar authorities to stop the ongoing violence in the country, and to pave the way for humanitarian aid and national reconciliation.
“Asean will do its part but we need our external partners to lean forward as well,” said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong at the East Asia Summit (EAS) on Friday (Oct 11).
He said support from Asean’s partners to confront regional challenges was essential – not just to resolve the pressing challenge of the long-drawn conflict in Myanmar, but also to ensure that the EAS platform can continue to play a “vital role”.
With Asean at its core, the EAS brings together eight major partners – Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the US.
The annual Asean Summits and related meetings are being held against the backdrop of heightened geopolitical tensions, including wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, and the broader US-China rivalry. Summit discussions have largely been dominated by two regional challenges, namely the crisis in Myanmar and the disputed South China Sea.
“For now in Asia, we largely enjoy peace and stability, but there are potential hot spots and serious trust deficits,” said PM Wong.
He added: “In these troubled times, the EAS remains the only platform capable of bringing all the key players in our region to the same table.
“The aim of the EAS must therefore be to manage differences among the key powers, and to prevent a full-blown conflict in Asia. Such an outcome would be disastrous not just for the region but for the whole world.”
The question of Myanmar has continued to dog Asean leaders during their top-level meetings this week.
The country has been engulfed in a civil war since the coup of February 2021, when the military ousted the civilian government.
A peace plan drawn up by Asean – the five-point consensus that calls for, among other things, dialogue among all parties and a cessation of violent attacks – has seen little progress.
In the past year, the military regime and ethnic armed groups have only escalated their fighting.
Powers with strategic, economic and security interests in Myanmar have at some point or another attempted to intervene through sanctions or dialogue.
Neighbouring China, for one, a major arms supplier to the junta but which also has close ties with the resistance groups, has brokered multiple ceasefire deals that have fallen apart.
The US has imposed several rounds of sanctions against entities and people closely associated with the junta, in hopes of putting economic and political pressure on military leaders.
Meanwhile, at least 5,350 civilians have been killed, and more than 3.3 million displaced, with nearly 27,400 people arrested since the 2021 coup, according to the United Nations human rights office.
The continuing conflict has also raised questions about Asean’s effectiveness in getting one of its member states to comply with the regional grouping’s peace plan.
PM Wong, who thanked Asean partners for their support in upholding the five-point consensus, told EAS members: “We encourage Asean’s external partners to use your leverage to get the Myanmar authorities to stop the violence, facilitate humanitarian assistance, and engage all stakeholders in a national reconciliation.”
Turning to the broader environment, PM Wong suggested that Asean and its partners focus on strengthening strategic dialogue as well as working together on concrete projects.
“We cannot expect to agree on all issues. But it is important for all countries to have a say, and to understand each other’s perspectives,” he said, adding that this will help build trust.
He touched on the Asean Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, which lays out the grouping’s common position on regional cooperation, security and prosperity.
“These projects will also give our external partners a stake in the stability and growth of the region,” he said. The EAS meeting also marked a rare occasion when diplomatic adversaries, like the US, which was represented by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Russia, which had sent Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, were in the same room. Chinese Premier Li Qiang was also present.
At a separate meeting with only Asean leaders, Blinken said that for the region to advance its shared vision of an open, prosperous and secure region, countries will need to come together to address shared challenges, which include the deepening crisis in Myanmar, as well as the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war that began in 2022.
Speaking during the Asean-US summit, PM Wong welcomed the US’ move to become Asean’s first dialogue partner to commit to a statement on artificial intelligence (AI) cooperation. The commitment will help facilitate the development of AI, while also mitigating the risks associated with the emerging sector in the region.
The US is currently the largest source of direct investment in Asean, and trade between the US and the region is worth more than US$500 billion (S$652 billion).
Blinken also raised concerns over the increasing aggression and violence in clashes over the South China Sea, adding that the US will continue to support freedom of navigation and freedom of overflight in the Indo-Pacific.
“But whether it’s responding to urgent global challenges or advancing the shared hopes of our people, the relationship between the United States and Asean will continue to be essential,” he said.
“We look forward to this partnership growing even stronger in the years to come.”
PM Wong also met China’s Li on the sidelines of the summits, where they spoke about ways to further enhance cooperation even as the two countries have continued to strengthen ties in recent years.
“Singapore and China share a longstanding and deep relationship. Our bilateral ties are in excellent shape,” wrote PM Wong on social media, adding that 2025 would mark 35 years of diplomatic relations.
“I look forward to stronger ties with China, for the benefit of both our peoples.” - The Straits Times/ANN
