TE24 International Desk:
Southeast Asia’s regional bloc, ASEAN, said on Thursday that instability caused by cross-strait tensions could lead to “miscalculations, serious conflicts, open conflicts and unpredictable outcomes between major powers”.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations made the comments in a statement by its foreign minister after its leader, Cambodia, urged all parties to ease tensions over Taiwan. , many countries including China and the United States participated, but were overshadowed by developments in Taiwan following a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
ASEAN is ready to play a constructive role in promoting peaceful dialogue among all parties, he said, calling for maximum restraint and restraint from provocative actions. Pelosi’s visit, the first US visit to an autonomous region of Taiwan in 25 years, sparked outrage in China, which responded with a series of military exercises and other activities in the region.
Southeast Asian countries tend to act cautiously when trying to balance their relations with China and the United States, and are hesitant to fall between the superpowers. He remarked that he was able to exchange views with close partners on the way to this very important ASEAN meeting after meeting Subramaniam Jaishankar.
We have a shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific, said Blinken, who said he had no plans to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Cambodia.
Brinken, who is one of his 27 foreign ministers to attend a security summit at the ASEAN Regional Forum on Friday, said in a meeting with Jaishankar that “Sri Lanka, Burma and others” were many issues.
Pressure on Myanmar
ASEAN talks focused on the failure of bloc diplomatic pressure to resolve the crisis in Myanmar, also known as Burma, which has been in turmoil since the army took power last year. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Wednesday that ASEAN would be forced to reconsider a peace plan agreed with Myanmar if the military rulers execute more prisoners.
ASEAN has called on Myanmar’s military government to abide by a peace accord last year and condemned the recent execution of four of its activists involved in campaigning against the military regime. Myanmar’s military junta last week defended the death penalty as “justice for the people”, defying a storm of international condemnation.
Myanmar was absent from its ASEAN meeting this week after Myanmar’s military rejected an offer to send a non-junta representative. ASEAN has fired its generals until progress on the peace plan is proven.
Singapore’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that Myanmar had neglected peace efforts and added that if no progress was made on this front, further cooperation with Myanmar’s military authorities would be of limited value.
Still, some analysts and diplomats wondered what other measures ASEAN, with its tradition of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, was prepared to take against its member Myanmar.
