VIENTIANE - Divisions among Asia-Pacific nations surfaced on Saturday, as foreign ministers engaged in exchanges over Russia’s protracted invasion of Ukraine and China’s growing maritime assertiveness in nearby waters.
At the ministerial gathering of the 18-member East Asia Summit, which includes Asean, Russia, China, the United States, Japan and South Korea, North Korea’s missile and nuclear development was also discussed.
The meeting took place as tensions between the United States and its security allies and what they call autocratic countries, such as Russia, China and North Korea, have been escalating, sparking concerns that the world could be divided into two groups.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as well as the Russian and Chinese foreign ministers, Sergey Lavrov and Wang Yi, attended the gathering on the final day of a series of Asean-related ministerial meetings that have been taking place all week in the capital of Laos, this year’s Asean chair.
In response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, which began in February 2022, the US and other Group of Seven industrialised countries have imposed economic sanctions on Moscow. China has been deepening relations with Russia in recent years.
In the South China Sea, some Asean members, particularly the Philippines, have become increasingly wary of Beijing’s expanding military activities, with the ruling Communist Party claiming sovereignty over almost the entire area.
Beijing has also stepped up military provocations around Taiwan, saying the island is at “the core of China’s core interests”. China regards self-ruled democratic Taiwan as a renegade province to be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary.
Japan and China, meanwhile, have been at odds over the Tokyo-controlled, Beijing-claimed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
Blinken met with Wang on Saturday, hours after criticising Beijing’s “escalating and unlawful actions” in the South China Sea.
The two men shook hands in front of cameras but made no comments before moving to closed-doors talks in their sixth meeting since June 23, when Blinken visited Beijing in a significant sign of improvement in strained relations.
Though Blinken had singled out China over its actions against US defence ally the Philippines in the South China Sea, he also lauded the two countries for their diplomacy after Manila completed a resupply mission to troops in an area also claimed by Beijing.
The two sides this week reached an arrangement over how to conduct those missions. (Story continues below)
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi gestures during the East Asia Summit in Vientiane on Saturday. (Photo: Reuters)
Message to Myanmar
Ahead of Saturday’s summits, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong urged Myanmar’s military rulers to take a different path and end an intensifying civil war, pressing the generals to abide by their commitment to follow Asean’s five-point consensus peace plan.
The junta has largely ignored the Asean-promoted peace effort, and the 10-member bloc has hit a wall as all sides refuse to enter into dialogue.
“We see the instability, the insecurity, the deaths, the pain that is being caused by the conflict,” Wong told reporters.
“My message from Australia to the regime is, this is not sustainable for you or for your people.”
An estimated 2.6 million people have been displaced by fighting. The junta has been condemned for excessive force in its air strikes on civilian areas, which it has dismissed as Western disinformation.
Asean issued a communique on Saturday, stressing it was united behind its peace plan for Myanmar, saying it was confident in its special envoy’s resolve to achieve “an inclusive and durable peaceful resolution” to the conflict.
It said ministers also welcomed unspecified practical measures to reduce tension in the South China Sea and prevent accidents and miscalculations, while urging all stakeholders to halt actions that could complicate and escalate disputes.
The ministers described North Korea’s missile tests as worrisome developments and urged peaceful resolutions to the conflicts in Ukraine, as well as Gaza, expressing concern over the dire humanitarian situation and “alarming casualties” there. (Story continues below)
North Korea’s ambassador to Laos, Lee Yong Son, attends the Asian Regional Forum in Vientiane on Saturday. (Photo: Reuters)
Pyongyang in spotlight
The 27-member Asean Regional Forum (ARF), one of the few multilateral events attended by a North Korean diplomat, also took place, at a time when Pyongyang has been trying to bolster military ties with Russia.
North Korea did not send Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui to this year’s gathering, with the ambassador to Laos representing the country instead.
At a dinner for attendees of the Asean-related meetings on Friday, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae Yul attempted to shake hands with the North Korean ambassador but was rebuffed.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, meanwhile, said guidelines on the operation of US nuclear assets on the Korean peninsula were certain to add to regional security concerns.
Lavrov, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap, said he had not been briefed on the details of the plan, which was of concern to Russia.
“So far we can’t even get an explanation of what this means, but there is no doubt that it causes additional anxiety,” Russia’s state-run RIA news agency quoted him as saying.
The ARF groups the East Asia Summit members plus Bangladesh, Canada, East Timor, Mongolia, North Korea, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka and the European Union.
