Southeast Asian countries are worried about Myanmar and South China Sea conflict

China’s increasingly aggressive stance in the South China Sea and escalating violence in Myanmar were top on the agenda during a meeting of Southeast Asian diplomats in Laos on Monday. Lao Foreign Minister Selumxay Komasith expressed hope that progress could be made on both these issues of concern this year. He told reporters that Thailand was moving ahead with plans to provide more humanitarian aid to Myanmar, where civil war has displaced more than 2.6 million people. He said it was a good sign that the military leaders who seized control of Myanmar from the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 were in the historic city of Luang Prabang in Laos for the first time to attend the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. A high level representative was sent.

“We feel a little optimistic that this could work, although we have to acknowledge that the issues that are going on in Myanmar will not be solved overnight,” Selumkse said. “I think there is a small ray of hope.” Myanmar is banned from sending its foreign minister or any political representative to high-level ASEAN meetings from the end of 2021. The ban was imposed after it blocked the group’s envoy from meeting with Suu Kyi. Instead, it sent non-political representatives to lower-level working meetings but refused to send anyone to higher-level meetings. To Laos, however, it sent a non-political official from the Foreign Ministry, ASEAN Permanent Secretary Marler Than Htike, which Selumxay called “a positive gesture.”

ASEAN member states Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Brunei and Laos have a combined population of about 650 million and a gross domestic product of more than US$30 billion. Landlocked Laos has taken over the leadership of ASEAN this year. It is one of the poorest and smallest countries in this group. Nevertheless, it is the first ASEAN country that shares a border with Myanmar to serve as chair (of ASEAN) since the military took control of that country, which gives it a different perspective from previous chairpersons.

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