With U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping deciding not to attend, the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Summit opens on the 5th (local time) in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia.
Under the theme "The Importance of ASEAN: The Center of Growth," the 43rd ASEAN Summit and East Asia Summit (EAS), held from the 5th to the 7th, will be attended by heads of state from 22 countries and 9 international organizations.
Amid the Myanmar crisis, South China Sea disputes, and U.S.-China tensions, various pressing issues are expected to be discussed at this meeting. Retno Marsudi, Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, stated that the summit will review the implementation of the five-point consensus on Myanmar adopted in April 2021. The Myanmar military staged a coup in February 2021, rejecting the general election results and arresting State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.
In response, ASEAN held a special summit in April 2021 and summoned Myanmar’s military leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, agreeing on five points including the cessation of violence in Myanmar. However, the Myanmar military has not implemented these agreements. Consequently, ASEAN has excluded Myanmar from various ASEAN meetings and urged compliance with the consensus, but it has not imposed significant sanctions, drawing criticism from the international community.
Regarding this, the Associated Press reported that Myanmar is scheduled to be ASEAN chair in 2026, but this summit is expected to discuss excluding Myanmar and having the Philippines, next in line, assume the chairmanship instead. ASEAN typically assigns the chairmanship in alphabetical order of member countries.
The South China Sea issue is also expected to be addressed. China recently published an "official standard map" marking most of the disputed South China Sea territory as its own, provoking backlash from some ASEAN countries. Against this backdrop, the 26th ASEAN-China Summit on the 6th will discuss the South China Sea issue and continue talks on establishing a binding Code of Conduct (COC) related to the dispute.
China and ASEAN countries adopted the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) in 2002 to prevent disputes, and have since pursued the establishment of a COC, but progress has stalled. Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry stated that both sides are expected to agree at this summit to finalize the COC within three years. However, some ASEAN members, such as Cambodia and Laos, are pro-China, while only a few ASEAN countries have conflicts with China, so it is anticipated that ASEAN will not unanimously criticize China.
Additionally, participating countries will discuss building green economic infrastructure, developing resilient supply chains, food security, the digital economy, and establishing integrated payment systems.
Meanwhile, President Biden and President Xi will not attend this summit. President Biden plans to attend the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India, on the 9th and 10th, but Vice President Kamala Harris will represent the U.S. at the ASEAN Summit. President Xi will skip both the ASEAN Summit and the G20 Summit, with Premier Li Qiang attending on his behalf.
In this context, former Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa expressed disappointment over the absence of key leaders, saying, "What is more concerning is the waning attention toward ASEAN." He criticized ASEAN for failing to respond collectively when the Chinese Coast Guard fired water cannons at the Philippine Coast Guard vessel in the South China Sea last month, calling such behavior a self-diminishing act of ASEAN’s influence.
Unlike the U.S. and Chinese leaders, President Yoon Suk-yeol arrived in Jakarta on the day of the summit to attend the ASEAN Summit and will meet with President Joko Widodo on the 8th for a summit commemorating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. In a written interview with the Associated Press released that day, President Yoon said, "ASEAN is South Korea’s key partner in the Indo-Pacific region," and added, "We will urge the revitalization of 'ASEAN+3' cooperation to realize the vision of an East Asian community and reaffirm the firm resolve of regional countries toward North Korea’s denuclearization."
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