Leaders of Southeast Asian nations began an annual summit yesterday that is likely to be dominated by Myanmar’s escalating violence and political gridlock, with increasingly frustrated ASEAN members struggling to get the country’s junta to comply with an agreed peace plan.
Several ASEAN representatives have blamed the military rulers for failing to implement a peace plan agreed jointly last year, which includes ending hostilities and allowing access for a special envoy and aid.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen addressed yesterday’s opening ceremony with a call for vigilance and wisdom during times of economic and geopolitical turmoil.
Photo: Reuters
“We are now at the most uncertain juncture; the lives of millions in our region depend on our wisdom and foresight,” said Hun Sen, who hosted the summit.
ASEAN, which has barred junta leaders from its meetings since last year, last week repeated its commitment to the so-called five-point peace consensus, but some members have been pushing for a stronger stance.
Leaders from the other nine countries in the bloc — Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam — were at the meeting in Phnom Penh.
US President Joe Biden is scheduled to join the meeting today, as is Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強), Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol. Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov is also to attend.
Political, social and economic chaos have gripped Myanmar since the military last year overthrew an elected government led by then-Burmese state councelor Aung San Suu Kyi, led a deadly crackdown on dissent and unraveled years of tentative reform toward democracy.
Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi last week said that the junta, not ASEAN, was squarely responsible for a lack of progress on the peace plan and that recommendations would be made to leaders on strengthening its implementation.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr during a meeting with Hun Sen on Thursday agreed, saying there needs to be patience dealing with the crisis.
“We can still do more in terms of engagement with Myanmar,” Marcos was cited as saying by his spokesperson on Facebook.
The junta has blamed a lack of progress on the COVID-19 pandemic and obstruction from armed resistance movements that it calls terrorists.
International Institute of Strategic Studies executive director James Crabtree said ASEAN was struggling to cope with internal divisions over Myanmar and other issues.
“Whether it is Cambodia as chair now or Indonesia next year, those divisions aren’t going to go away, and that is likely to continue to limit the bloc’s ability to pressure the junta in Myanmar or respond smartly to rising great power competition,” he said.
The bloc, which has a long-standing tradition of noninterference in members’ sovereign affairs, has ruled out Western-style sanctions against Myanmar or expelling it from the group.
One Western diplomat attending the meeting said that while the bloc might try to make the Myanmar peace plan more actionable, “little progress is expected.”
Officials expect a number of summits in the region in the next seven days to be difficult, with discussions also expected to include regional tensions over Taiwan, the South China Sea and North Korea, as well as the war in Ukraine and climate change.
G20 leaders are meeting in Bali, Indonesia, next week and APEC is to meet in Bangkok after that.
“The most consequential issues in the region and on the global stage right now will be addressed,” US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink said on Thursday.
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