Asean diplomats meet with China amid growing friction over Beijing's sweeping maritime claims
Vientiane, Laos: Southeast Asia's top diplomats met with China's foreign minister in Laos on Friday for talks amid growing friction over Beijing's growing efforts to clamp down on its sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea.
Many members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have territorial disputes with China, leading to direct confrontations that many worry could lead to wider conflict.
“One wrong move in the South China Sea will turn a small fire into a huge fire,” Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said ahead of talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
ASEAN members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei all dispute China's territorial claims over the South China Sea, one of the world's most important waterways for shipping. Indonesia has also expressed concern over what it sees as Beijing's encroachment into its exclusive economic zone.
The United States and its allies, meanwhile, have regularly conducted military exercises and patrols in the region to assert their “free and open Indo-Pacific” policy, including the right to navigate in international waters that has been criticized by China.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived on Saturday to attend the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting and was expected to meet with Wang on the sidelines.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is also attending the meeting and has held direct talks with Wang.
China is Russia's main ally in the war against Ukraine, and Wang emphasized “deepening strategic coordination” between the two nations, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.
The European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, urged ASEAN ministers not to ignore the European conflict at their meeting.
“I know that the Russian aggression against Ukraine may seem far from ASEAN, but its consequences, in inflation or the increase in food and oil prices, are also felt by our population, although Russia works hard to spread misinformation.” Borrell said.
This year, tensions have risen between the Philippines — a US treaty ally — and China. In June, a Chinese ship and a Philippine supply vessel collided near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, sparking alarm.
ASEAN members – Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Brunei and Laos – stressed at their opening meeting on Thursday that it was important not to be drawn in as both China and the US look to expand. influence in the field.
After the talks, Marsudi said the group should not be a proxy for any power, otherwise “it will be difficult for ASEAN to become an anchor for regional stability and peace.”
Wang did not mention the South China Sea in his opening speech at a meeting with ASEAN ministers on Friday, stressing China's economic and trade ties.
But as the issue arose, Indonesia urged China to “participate in maintaining peace, stability and prosperity in the region,” Indonesia's foreign ministry said.
ASEAN ministers stressed the importance of completing ongoing work with China on drafting a South China Sea code of conduct, as problems in ASEAN relations with China remain a “stumbling block”, the ministry said.
“Indonesia's position is firm, namely that all claims must be resolved peacefully through direct negotiations between the parties concerned,” Marsudi said.
China and the Philippines said on Sunday they had reached an agreement to end their standoff, aiming to establish a mutually acceptable arrangement for the disputed territory without recognizing either side's territorial claims.
There are divisions within ASEAN over how to deal with China's maritime claims, and the Philippines has been critical of the bloc's perceived lack of support.
At Thursday's talks, the Philippines pushed for the June collision to be included in a joint statement to be issued at the end of the meeting. Cambodia and Laos, which are closer to China, opposed the term, according to a senior Southeast Asian diplomat who was involved in the closed-door talks and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter freely.
Manila's resolution said recent incidents in the South China Sea had caused “property damage” and “injuries”, the diplomat said.
An increasingly violent civil war in Asean member state Myanmar is also one of the main issues and the group supported Thailand playing a wider role, Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa said.
Thailand, which shares a long border with Myanmar, has already been involved in providing humanitarian aid. Maris announced an additional $250,000 donation to the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance in Disaster Management, which oversees the plan to deliver aid to Myanmar.
Myanmar's military overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 and repressed widespread nonviolent protests seeking a return to democratic rule, leading to escalating violence and a humanitarian crisis.
ASEAN is pushing for a “five-point consensus” for peace, but Myanmar's military leadership has shunned the plan, raising questions about the bloc's efficiency and credibility.
It calls for an immediate end to violence in Myanmar, dialogue between all concerned parties, mediation by an ASEAN Special Envoy, provision of humanitarian assistance through ASEAN channels, and a visit to Myanmar by a Special Envoy to meet all concerned parties.
Myanmar is barred from sending political representatives to ASEAN meetings and is instead represented by Aung Kyaw Moe, Permanent Secretary of Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
China, which shares a long border with Myanmar, also plays an important role in supporting the military regime and maintaining close ties to the many powerful ethnic armed groups it is currently fighting against.
In his opening statement ahead of talks between ASEAN and China, Aung Kyaw Moe lavished praise on Beijing and pledged that the bloc would continue to work to deepen cooperation with China in all areas.
