ASEAN REDEFINED
ASEAN summit in Laos, new plan for Myanmar, informal consultations, Antony Blinken, Narendra Modi, Shigeru Ishiba, Li Qiang and Sergei Lavrov in Vientiane, Laos
ASEAN summit: EU seeks to build bridges in Southeast Asia
The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is holding its annual summit in Laos. The bloc's members view these summits as a key platform to engage with foreign partners on major issues regarding politics, economy and security.
The EU will be represented in Laos by President of the European Council Charles Michel. He has also been invited to attend the upcoming East Asia summit, which is set to start on Friday, where global leaders are expected to discuss wider topics affecting the continent.
"This invitation allows the European Union to interact with ASEAN at the leaders' level," the EU's ambassador to ASEAN, Sujiro Seam, told DW.
The bloc of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam is home to around 685 million people, and it is becoming an increasingly important player in the global economy.
"The main objective going into the East Asia Summit is to continue to advance the strategic partnership between ASEAN and the European Union," the EU ambassador added.
Biden and Xi not coming to Laos
Laos, a communist-run state, has put in effort to avoid controversy during its tenure as ASEAN's chair, focusing on regional unity rather than geopolitical disputes.
Some sore subjects, however, were raised on Thursday, with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr accusing Beijing of harassment and intimidation in the South China Sea and pushing for a framework on the code of conduct in the disputed waters.
Tensions over South China Sea dominate ASEAN summit in Laos
Chinese President Xi Jinping is notably absent from the conference in Laos, with Premier Li Qiang representing China. US President Joe Biden is also not attending the summit and sending instead his Secretary of State Antony Blinken. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is another no-show, but Australia's Anthony Albanese is taking part, alongside with Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. The leaders of South Korea and Canada are also in Vientiane.
Myanmar junta represented at ASEAN
Analysts do not anticipate any major resolutions on critical regional issues, such as disputes over the South China Sea or the ongoing civil conflict in Myanmar.
The ruling junta in Myanmar will be represented in Laos, with the war-torn country sending a senior official from its Foreign Ministry to the summit. The decision to invite him, however, has prompted other ASEAN nations to criticize Laos.
ASEAN Secretary General Kao Kim Hourn said the bloc will stay engaged with Myanmar.
"We need time and patience," he told the Reuters news agency. "Myanmar is such a complicated, a complex issue... We should not expect a quick fix."
New push for Myanmar peace plan at ASEAN summit
Indonesia, which has advocated for a more assertive approach to the Myanmar crisis, hosted its own talks last week. These discussions included representatives from the EU and Myanmar's anti-junta National Unity Government.
Brussels' business in Asia
On the sidelines of the conference, EU officials are expected to engage with Southeast Asian leaders on various matters, including trade and investment. Earlier this month, the EU and ASEAN held a Partners' Dialogue forum in Jakarta, while sectoral dialogues on issues such as technology management have taken place in recent weeks.
Experts say 2024 is shaping up to be a big year for EU-ASEAN relations.
"The level of engagement has never been so good. This is welcomed by European businesses," Chris Humphrey, executive director of the EU-ASEAN Business Council, told DW.
He said that bilateral trade numbers, worth around €270 billion ($295 billion) last year, "remain strong" and praised European investment in Southeast Asia: €27 billion in 2023 and over €90 billion since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Humphrey.
Tensions eased after EU anti-deforestation law delayed
Southeast Asian governments have repeatedly clashed with Brussels over the proposed EU anti-deforestation law. The initiative aims to restrict imports of commodities such cocoa, coffee, palm oil and many others if they are linked to destruction of forests.
The law was initially scheduled to go into effect at the end of 2024. Now, it has been postponed to December 2025 for large companies and June 2026 for smaller enterprises.
While several ASEAN members are still opposed to the law itself, the delay gives regional businesses more time to adjust and deflates the tensions as the EU negotiates free trade agreements with Indonesia and Malaysia.
Malaysia to take the helm
Malaysia is expected to officially take over as ASEAN chair in January 2025. During the next 12 months, one of Malaysia's priorities will be finalizing the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, a roadmap for regional affairs over the next two decades.
EU ambassador Seam noted that the EU is eager to work closely with Malaysia during its chairmanship, particularly in organizing a special EU-ASEAN Leaders' summit early next year.
However, analysts reckon Malaysia's turn at the helm will pose challenges.
The European bloc should expect a "rougher chairmanship" from Malaysia than Laos, which has "stayed away from contentious issues and worked to maintain friendships, not alienate them," Bridget Welsh, an honorary research associate at the University of Nottingham Asia Research Institute Malaysia, told DW.
Middle East crisis prompts anger in Kuala Lumpur
Meanwhile, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has adopted a more critical stance toward Western nations in recent months. Last month, Anwar visited Russia and is expected to attend the BRICS Summit in Kazan later in October.
Anwar, a lifelong supporter of the Palestinian cause, has been vehemently critical of the West's response to Israel's offensive in Gaza. Hamas is considered a terror group by the US, the EU and others.
While on a visit to Germany in March, Anwar accused European governments of "hypocrisy." In an interview this week, he again lashed out at the "sheer hypocrisy of many countries in the West to condone what is happening in Gaza," describing this stance as "shocking" and "appalling."
https://www.dw.com/en/asean-summit-eu-seeks-to-build-bridges-in-southeast-asia/a-70454646
Regional issues likely to take a backseat at ASEAN Summit in Laos
With a number of contemporary major issues on its agenda and an economically-orientated theme, this year’s ASEAN Summits appears unlikely to produce remarkable milestones regarding the long-unsolved geopolitical concerns, particularly the South China Sea dispute and the Myanmar crisis.
Prime Minister Hun Manet, accompanied by First Lady Pich Chanmony, flew from Cambodia yesterday to attend the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits and other related meetings, which will kick off today, in Laos’ capital of Vientiane.
The year’s ASEAN Summits are being held under the theme “ASEAN: Enhancing Connectivity and Resilience”.
Mr Hun Manet and his delegation are scheduled to attend various meetings, including ASEAN Leaders’ Interface with Representatives of ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), ASEAN Leaders’ Interface with Representatives of ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC), and ASEAN Leaders’ Interface with Representatives of ASEAN Youth. They are also expected to meet country and world organisation leaders to discuss further cooperation and promote ties.
Pou Sothirak, a retired academic and Distinguished Senior Adviser to the Cambodian Centre for Regional Studies (CCRS), commented based on his observation that the current global issues, such as the upcoming presidential election in the US and the Israel-Hamas war, will dominate discussions at the Summit in Vientiane.
“Given this scenario, ASEAN may end up with two choices during the summit,” he explained. “First of all, the organisation can stay neutral, with nothing major to say on issue.
“Secondly, ASEAN can again call for restraint from using force between the parties. This is more likely the case as ASEAN has been seen as a champion in pushing for consultation and dialogue in solving conflicts. They may ask the conflicting parties to keep looking for common ground and solve their differences peacefully.”
Meanwhile, it has been reported that for the first time ever in three years, Myanmar will send a representative to the regional summit this week as the junta struggles to quell a civil war.
However, Sothirak said he can only “hope for the best” for Myanmar, as he suggested that the Myanmar crisis will be overshadowed the international tensions, such as the Israel-Hamas conflict and the Ukraine-Russia war, that are having worldwide impacts.
“We all know that when Indonesia was the chair of the ASEAN Summit last year, the result regarding the Myanmar crisis was unsatisfactory,” he explained.
“The Five-Point Consensus cannot be operationalised, not because ASEAN is not willing to honour it, but because of the Junta’s unwillingness to implement it due to the unstable situation in the country. All these issues are recurring issues… Based on my honest view, even Cambodia has given below-expectation performance regarding them. ”
Sothirak suggested this year’s ASEAN Summits are more likely to focus on “passing the torch” to Malaysia as the Chair next year.
Meanwhile, Chheng Kimlong, President of the Asian Vision Institute, said he does not expect to see major changes in the issue of the South China Sea dispute and the Myanmar crisis after this year’s Summit.
“ASEAN is sticking to its principle of non-interference, although it will uphold its values at the core of finding peaceful resolution despite the different perspectives expressed by its member states,” he explained.
Kimlong added that the situation in South China will remain a tension, especially as long as China does not ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“Also, I notice that Laos as the ASEAN Chair is focussing more on economic issues as this year’s ASEAN Summits call for enhanced connectivity and are unlikely to shine much on geopolitical issues,” he noted.
“The most I can foresee is the ASEAN member states issuing another statement calling for peaceful solution among conflicting parties.”
The tension caused by the South China Sea dispute has often caused military confrontation in the affected area. Meanwhile, Myanmar has been in a state of turmoil since February 2021, when the military overthrew the democratically elected civilian government, igniting widespread protests that escalated into an armed rebellion against the ruling junta.
On Monday, Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said in an event that ASEAN must play a key role in ending the civil war in Myanmar.
“ASEAN must play an important role in bringing peace back to Myanmar as soon as possible,” she said.
As ASEAN leaders were arriving in Vientiane yesterday, most of them have already revealed their own focus.
However, according to the Bangkok Post, Paetongtarn will also focus on the issue of flood mitigation in Laos.
Speaking last week at the forum titled “Rethinking Harmony in Asia”, Dewi Fortuna Anwar, research professor at the Research Centre for Politics at Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency, claimed that ASEAN member states need to see themselves as a whole and place more importance on the regional interest.
She also suggested that ASEAN needs the “intellectual capacity to come up with innovative ideas” and that while it continues to maintain its centrality, it must also recognise its limitations.
“So we need to understand where we need to engage with our (dialogue) partners. We understand very well what our limitation is. And then also we need to inform our dialogue partners not to ask us to solve everything,” Anwar said.
Anwar added that one of the key concerns that ASEAN nationals have expressed about ASEAN is that the organisation is “not responsive. It’s not able to deal with current challenges”.
Member states need to step up their commitment to ASEAN unity and solidarity, she said.
“This can never be taken for granted. And that means that we need to work very seriously to realise the ASEAN community vision,” Anwar added.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501570873/regional-issues-likely-to-take-a-backseat-at-asean-summit-in-laos/#google_vignette
ASEAN holds summit in Laos as Thailand floats new plan for Myanmar
Reuters Vientiane, Laos
Southeast Asian leaders met in Laos on Wednesday for a summit expected to find ways of tackling a worsening civil war in Myanmar, with Thailand set to propose a new path for a political solution after a regional peace effort made scant progress
Chaos has prevailed in Myanmar since a 2021 military coup sparked a nationwide rebellion and a civil war that has ravaged the nation of 55 million. The ruling junta has so far refused to hold talks with its opponents, whom it calls terrorists.
Thailand offered this week to host an "informal consultation" of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in December to try to find a way out of the intractable conflict that has displaced millions of people.
"We want to see a political solution," Nikorndej Balankura, a spokesperson of Thailand's foreign ministry, told reporters.
"Thailand is ready to coordinate with all other member countries so there would be a concerted ASEAN effort that could lead to peace in Myanmar."
Thailand's initiative would complement existing ASEAN peace efforts, but may not immediately involve countries beyond the region, he added.
The proposal, floated at Tuesday's meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers, comes as the bloc runs low on options to tackle the Myanmar crisis.
There has been no progress on its "Five-Point Consensus" peace plan unveiled months after the coup, or a drive by Indonesia to persuade anti-junta groups to start dialog.
In previous months, Thailand has suggested that Myanmar's other influential neighbors, China and India, might play a role in the peace effort, but the latest plan is limited to the ASEAN bloc.
Any decision on whether Myanmar's ruling generals or their opponents would be invited to the informal talks would be up to ASEAN chair Laos and the other member states, Nikorndej added.
Myanmar's civil war and troubles in the disputed South China Sea are key issues set to dominate the ASEAN leaders' meeting in Vientiane, which will be followed by two days of summits with premiers and top diplomats from regional and world powers.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese premier Shigeru Ishiba, Chinese premier Li Qiang and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are among those set to attend.
Opening Wednesday's summit, Laos Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone said ASEAN faced many challenges and had its own ways to tackle them.
"Laos deems that ASEAN's past successes are due to our understanding of each other," he said. "We help each other, and co-operate with each other, with an ASEAN way and principles. "
Ahead of Blinken's trip, the United States' top diplomat for East Asia, Daniel Kritenbrink, told reporters there had been "virtually zero progress" in efforts to get Myanmar's junta to reduce violence, free political prisoners and talk to the democratic opposition.
"The secretary will continue to emphasize to partners in the region that we must keep up pressure on the regime," he said, of Blinken's visit.
Since ASEAN has barred the Myanmar generals from its summits until they can meet requirements of the peace plan, the country is represented in Laos by a senior foreign ministry official.
Nikorndej said Myanmar's representative urged ASEAN foreign ministers on Tuesday to understand and sympathize with the military government and use more "moderate language" in discussing the crisis.
ASEAN must not bend to accommodate the junta's demands, including recognizing its own five-step "roadmap" for what is expected to be a one-sided election, however, former Thai diplomat Korbsak Chutikul warned.
"Care must be exercised not to be roped into going along with Myanmar's own five-point plan, like to hold elections next year for a semblance of legitimacy," Korbsak said.
Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.
https://www.voanews.com/a/asean-holds-summit-in-laos-as-thailand-floats-new-plan-for-myanmar-/7815760.html
Marking time: The ASEAN summit in Laos
By Susannah Patton
This week, one of Southeast Asia’s smallest countries, Laos, is host to its neighbours for the ASEAN Summit. It will also welcome the region’s great powers, including the United States, China and Japan, for the adjoining annual East Asia Summit.
The defining backdrop for this year’s summitry is incomplete political transitions in Washington and Jakarta.
As for the rest of the world, the outcome of next month’s presidential election in the United States looms large in Southeast Asia. The possible re-election of Donald Trump, who could ramp up protectionism and take a more confrontational approach to China, would make the region less stable and predictable. Even the possible election of Vice President Harris would bring uncertainty, because her level of interest in and commitment to showing up in Southeast Asia is unknown, despite her regular travel to the region as a surrogate for President Biden. The ongoing election campaign means the United States will have more junior representation in Laos, in the form of Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
In Indonesia, the long interregnum between president-elect Prabowo Subianto’s February election victory and his inauguration on 20 October is finally drawing to a close. While Prabowo is a known quantity, his approach to ASEAN and regional issues like the South China Sea is less easy to predict. If he becomes, as Rizal Sukma has argued, a “foreign policy president”, he could breathe new life into ASEAN, which has received only episodic attention from outgoing Indonesian president Jokowi.
The Summit, which comes ahead of this year’s APEC and G20 meetings in Peru and Brazil, will also be the first for several new leaders. Japan’s new prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, will attend and hold sideline talks with his South Korean counterpart. Thailand’s Paetongtarn Shinawatra will be the youngest and newest Southeast Asian leader at the ASEAN table this year.
Singapore’s leadership has also undergone generational change, with Lawrence Wong replacing veteran prime minister Lee Hsien Loong in May. Wong is competent and echoes much of Lee’s foreign policy rhetoric, but Lee’s departure is a loss to the grouping, which in 2024 is largely led by less seasoned politicians, a majority of whom are in place due to dynastic political successions rather than merit-based election or selection.
The ASEAN agenda
Expectations of a smaller chair country like Laos are always limited, and Laos probably just hopes to survive the year unscathed, given the many sensitive regional and international issues that create divisions within the group. This year, the toughest of these are Myanmar – where a civil war continues to rage but ASEAN’s response remains in bureaucratic stasis – and the South China Sea, where China is piling pressure on the Philippines, which has received scant support from most of its neighbours.
Laos has already survived the toughest test on these sensitive issues, which is agreeing a jointly negotiated communiqué issued after the July meeting of foreign ministers. By contrast, the leaders’ meeting issues only a “chairman’s statement”, meaning that while the text is subject to negotiation, there is greater wiggle room for the chair to fudge disagreements among members.
The East Asia Summit, which includes ASEAN countries plus eight major partners including the United States, China (generally represented by premier Li Qiang) and Russia (represented by foreign minister Sergei Lavrov), must also grapple with contentious global issues like conflict in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
ASEAN has taken steps to insulate itself from differences between its dialogue partners. Until 2022, partners could propose issue-specific East Asia Summit statements. However, negotiation of these statements (one of which was proposed by Russia in 2022 on the seemingly innocuous topic of volunteerism) became too contentious. While the EAS is still likely to issue at least one jointly negotiated statement in 2024, it is a reflection of global political polarisation that ASEAN’s dialogue partners are no longer able to propose their own duelling statements to advance their preferred language on international issues.
Because Laos is a weaker ASEAN member, many will already be looking to Malaysia’s chairmanship in 2025. Prime Minister Anwar has courted international controversy with his support for Hamas and tilting towards China’s positions on Taiwan and the South China Sea. But the ASEAN chair’s influence is always limited, so Anwar’s own views will not change the trajectory of the organisation. Anwar has already invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the 2025 ASEAN summits, which could provide an opportunity for Moscow to secure a diplomatic win such as achieving comprehensive strategic partner status, which Australia, China, the United States and Japan already enjoy (South Korea will have comprehensive strategic partner status confirmed later this year).
So, this week’s ASEAN show will come to Laos and then roll on again. Concrete progress on pressing issues will be sorely lacking. But as the global environment becomes more contested and the scope for international consensus narrows, ASEAN’s convening power is perhaps more important than ever.
https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/marking-time-asean-summit-laos
Lao PM Sonexay says AI is needed for ASEAN private sector to take the lead on digital economy
Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone joins a photo session while attending the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit 2024 opening ceremony on October 8. PHOTO: VIENTIANE TIMES
Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone sees ASEAN business leaders as key drivers of the digital economy, utilising global trends such as artificial intelligence (AI) for more effective and consistent economic development.
This is one of the key messages the Prime Minister delivered during the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (ABIS) 2024 opening ceremony on Tuesday in Vientiane.
The Prime Minister said that the active and decisive moves of the ASEAN private sector can strongly position the region to compete on the global stage, particularly in sustainable development, trade, and other sectors.
Prime Minister Sonexay emphasised that Laos, as the bloc’s chair for 2024, will use the theme ‘ASEAN: Enhancing Connectivity and Resilience’ to contribute to tackling challenges in the ASEAN region by promoting centrality, connectivity, and integration.
“Changes in global geopolitics and economics have brought significant challenges and opportunities, especially with the emergence of a new economic landscape and shifts in global supply chains, as well as the increasing role of the digital economy in global economic structures,” Prime Minister Sonexay said.
The Prime Minister noted that ASEAN will continue capitalising on opportunities to promote digital integration and innovation, ensuring relevant sectors are prepared for the future.
“Over the past few years, ASEAN has faced several economic challenges due to the outbreak of disease and economic uncertainty, but it has demonstrated resilience and overcome these issues. This is, of course, thanks to the private sector’s ability to adapt to change.”
Prime Minister Sonexay also called on ASEAN business leaders to continue embracing innovations, including the development of AI, and advancing business operations.
The government of Laos is also working on improving regulations, investing in infrastructure, and enhancing the education sector to pave the way for investment.
“I strongly believe that cooperation between the public and private sectors will help solve various challenges and attract trade and investment in ASEAN,” he said.
The ABIS is an annual event that brings together world leaders, CEOs, and senior executives from multinational and regional corporations.
Organised by the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC), ABIS is said to serve as a strategic platform to amplify the private sector’s voice in driving policy reforms and positioning ASEAN at the centre of global economic interconnectivity.
The ABIS is being held parallel to the ASEAN Summit and other related meetings organised by Laos from October 8-11.
At the ABIS opening ceremony, the ASEAN-BAC Chair, Mr Oudet Souvannavong, the ASEAN Economic Minister Chair, Mr Malaythong Kommasith, and the Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr Kao Kim Hourn, also delivered remarks.
Vietnamese Prime Minister, Pham Minh Chinh, representatives of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council, foreign ambassadors to Laos, and other stakeholders participated in the ceremony.
ASEAN-BAC Lao PDR plans to focus more on priorities such as digital transformation, sustainable development, healthcare resilience, food security, and trade and investment facilitation to strengthen economic connectivity and resilience.
On the same day, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith was also invited to give a keynote address at a plenary session, where panellists discussed the key role AI technologies play in the transition from the industrial era to the intelligent age, as well as AI’s role in fostering a sustainable and inclusive digital economy in ASEAN countries.