Southeast Asian leaders convene in the Cambodian capital today, faced with the challenge of trying to curtail escalating violence in Myanmar, while the country’s military-led government shows no signs of complying with the group’s peace plan.
US President Joe Biden is to be on hand for the ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh, which comes as Washington and Beijing are increasingly jockeying for influence in the Asia-Pacific region. It sets the stage for the G20 meetings in Bali, Indonesia, that immediately follow and are expected to include Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and possibly Russian President Vladimir Putin, then the APEC forum in Bangkok.
In addition to Myanmar, the four-day meetings are expected to focus on disputes in the South China Sea, COVID-19 pandemic recovery issues, regional trade and climate change.
Photo: AFP / Cambodia’s government cabinet / Kok KY
Neither Xi nor Putin are expected to attend the ASEAN talks or the parallel East Asia Summit, although China and Russia are thought to be sending high-level delegations headed by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) and possibly Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov.
Looming large over ASEAN, the G20 and APEC are the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Russia’s consequent search for new markets for its energy resources, as well as resulting supply chain and food security issues, China’s increasingly aggressive saber-rattling over Taiwan, and rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
By attending the ASEAN summit in person, Biden would be able to push US interests and visibly demonstrate Washington’s renewed commitment to the region, said Thomas Daniel, a senior fellow in foreign policy and security studies at Malaysia’s Institute of Strategic and International Studies.
“For Southeast Asia it’s really important to physically show up, and I think the Americans are very aware of this,” Daniel said.
ASEAN this year is elevating the US to a “comprehensive strategic partnership” status — a largely symbolic enhancement of their relationship, but one that puts Washington on the same level as China, which was granted the distinction last year.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, whose country has the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN, has invited Ukraine to participate in the summit and the country’s foreign minister met with Hun Sen ahead of the event yesterday.
ASEAN, which includes Myanmar, has tried to play a peacemaking role since shortly after the country’s military ousted the elected government of former Burmese state counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and seized power in February last year.
However, it could be that the leaders also choose to wait until Indonesia, which has taken a tougher stand on Myanmar, takes the chair of the bloc next year, before taking more decisive action.
“There is every chance that they might choose to delay and kick this down the road again,” Daniel said.
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