Grappling with maritime disputes and Myanmar crisis, ASEAN top diplomat meetings joined by US, China

VIENTIANE, Laos — Top Southeast Asian diplomats met their powerful dialogue partners in the Lao capital on Saturday in the latest of three-day regional talks that have grappled with tensions over Territorial claims in the South China Seaclimbing fighting in myanmarand regional rivalry.

Saturday’s meetings will bring together allies of 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 issues.

Secretary of State of the United States of America Antony Blinken arrived on Saturday in Vientiane to meet with ASEAN foreign ministers. He is also expected to meet on the sidelines with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, as both countries seek to expand their influence in the region. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is also in Vientiane and is already held direct talks with Wang on Thursday.

Participants in these meetings represent allies and critical partners of the United States or Washington’s two biggest rivals, Moscow and Beijing, which have become closer in the past two years, raising deep concerns about their combined global influence.

Indonesia said it stressed in its opening meetings on Thursday that it is important for the bloc not to be dragged down as both China and the United States seek to expand their influence in the region.

Among other topics, Blinken will address 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 US State Department.

ASEAN members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei are in conflict with China over their claim to sovereignty. over practically the entire South China Sea, one of the world’s most important waterways for maritime transportation. Many worry that direct confrontations there could lead to a broader conflict. Indonesia has also expressed concern over what it sees as Beijing’s invasion of its exclusive economic zone.

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

There are divisions within ASEAN over how to address China’s maritime claims. The Philippines has criticized the bloc’s perceived lack of support, but in a rare deal, China and the Philippines said. they had reached an agreement which they hope will end their clashes, with the aim of establishing a mutually acceptable agreement for the disputed area without conceding each other’s territorial claims.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said after the gala dinner on friday who had a bilateral meeting with China’s Wang, where they agreed that they would “honor the interim agreement in a clear and sincere effort to ease tensions and try to prevent any incident, of course, from leading to further tensions in our relationship.”

The increasingly violent civil war in ASEAN member state Myanmar is one of the other issues dominating the talks. Thailand has said the group gave it support to take on a broader role as one of Myanmar’s immediate neighbors.

Nikorndej Balankura, spokesperson for Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters on Friday that more dialogue mechanisms have been proposed to include more stakeholders, especially countries that share borders with Myanmar. However, he noted that those proposals have just been presented to Laos, which currently chairs ASEAN and is in charge of recommending them directly to Myanmar to seek approval.

Myanmar’s military overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 and suppressed widespread nonviolent protests seeking a return to democratic rule, leading to increased violence and a humanitarian crisis.

ASEAN has been pushing for a “five-point consensus” for peace, but military leaders in Myanmar has so far ignored the plan., which raises doubts about the efficiency and credibility of the bloc. The peace plan demands the immediate cessation of violence in burmaa dialogue between all interested 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 with all interested parties.