‘Serious concern’ at ASEAN over Mideast hostilities
Middle East crisis overshadows diplomatic meeting in Southeast Asia; Here, foreign ministers expressed serious concerns about renewed hostilities increasing uncertainty in a region struggling to manage its own tensions and conflicts.
Foreign ministers and major partners of the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations are holding meetings in Manila amid instability since the United States and Iran have resumed open conflict and raised fears about inflation and global growth as well as energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.
Risks have risen in recent days as Yemen’s pro-Iran Houthis declared a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia, opening a potential new front in the conflict and increasing the threat to global energy supplies and trade beyond the Gulf.
“We are deeply concerned that these developments seriously undermine the ongoing efforts of key mediators and reduce the possibility of a peaceful solution through dialogue and diplomacy,” ministers said in a statement after a closed-door meeting on Tuesday. they said.
Southeast Asia, a major oil importer with a total gross domestic product of US$3.8 trillion, is highly exposed to supply shortages and is seeking to step up the ASEAN oil sharing mechanism to alleviate this impact.
ASEAN is not facing challenges close to home and will hold a consultation on the conflict in Myanmar on Tuesday as the bloc’s peace initiative wanes five years after a military coup that plunged the country into a civil war that has killed an estimated 100,000 people.
Officials will also likely discuss tensions in the South China Sea; Nearly 10 years later, ASEAN and China are still trying to establish a code of conduct to prevent disputes from escalating.
Ahead of the meeting, the Philippines, a US ally, accused Chinese Coast Guard personnel on Monday of aggressively hitting a navy personnel in the head with a baton near the disputed Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea.
The Chinese Coast Guard called it “wrong” and on Tuesday Beijing said it had summoned the Philippine ambassador.
The US State Department condemned China’s actions, which it described as “dangerous and aggressive”, calling it a “disturbing pattern of provocations against China’s lawful naval operations in the Philippines”.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will attend the ASEAN-led meeting in the coming days and may meet on the sidelines.
Additionally, India, Japan, Australia, South Korea, Russia, the United Kingdom and the European Union, among other countries, will also participate.
In an opinion piece published in Philippine newspapers upon his arrival in Manila on Tuesday, Rubio harshly criticized Beijing without naming China and reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to freedom of navigation, but warned that such freedom was “by no means guaranteed.”
Separately, Australia on Tuesday announced an additional $10 million contribution to a drone package to increase the Philippine Coast Guard’s maritime surveillance capacity, which includes long-range and underwater drone capabilities and training.
