Southeast Asian leaders decided that Myanmar would not take over the rotating leadership of their regional bloc as scheduled in 2026, Asian diplomats and a leader said yesterday, in the latest blow to efforts by its ruling generals to gain international recognition after violently seizing power in 2021.
Western governments led by the US have condemned the Burmese army’s ouster of Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government in 2021 and have demanded her immediate release from years-long detention along with other officials.
The Philippines agreed to take over the bloc’s chairmanship in 2026, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said in a statement, citing what he told fellow leaders in the closed-door meetings at the start of the summit in Jakarta yesterday.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“It is my pleasure to announce that the Philippines is ready to take the helm and chair ASEAN in 2026,” the statement said.
Marcos did not explain why Myanmar lost the prestigious year-long ASEAN chairmanship, but two ASEAN diplomats told The Associated Press that it was related to the civil strife in the country and fears that the bloc’s relations with the US and the EU, among other issues, might be undermined because they do not recognize the military-led government in Myanmar.
The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue publicly.
Continuing deadly civil strife in Myanmar and new flare-ups in long-simmering territorial disputes in the South China Sea were high in the agenda of the 10-nation bloc’s talks yesterday.
Thorny issues, including the US-China rivalry in the region, have set off divisions within ASEAN, and Indonesian President Joko Widodo renewed his call for unity.
“All of us are aware of the magnitude of the world’s challenges today, where the main key to facing them is the unity and centrality of ASEAN,” Widodo told fellow leaders.
He likened the regional group to a big ship carrying Southeast Asia’s people.
“ASEAN leaders must ensure that this ship is able to keep going, able to keep sailing,” Widodo said. “We must be captains of our own ships to bring about peace, to bring about stability, to bring about shared prosperity.”
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