Foreign ministers pledge cooperation
NHA TRANG: Southeast Asian foreign ministers ended talks in Vietnam yesterday with pledges to continue cooperating on key issues, including facilitating the repatriation of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar and reducing South China Sea tensions.
It was the first meeting of the foreign ministers after Vietnam took over the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) chairmanship from Thailand.
A statement issued after the twoday informal meeting by Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh said that besides those issues, the Asean ministers also considered plans for a special summit with US President Donald Trump.
“We welcomed the invitation by the US President to convene a Special Summit to commemorate the 5th Anniversary of the Asean-US Strategic Partnership this year and would report to the leaders for a final decision,” it says.
The US government has proposed the event be held in mid-March in Las Vegas, according to diplomatic sources, but no date or venue was mentioned in an Asean chairman’s press statement.
Mr Trump extended the invitation after he skipped Asean-related summits held last November in Bangkok, disappointing Asean leaders with his absence from the region’s most important annual event for a second straight year.
Yesterday’s statement says Asean leaders look forward to his participation in this year Asean-related summits, which include the 18-nation East Asia Summit, to be held in November in Hanoi.
On the Rohingya issue, the foreign ministers “reaffirmed the need for Asean to be more visible and to play an enhanced role in supporting Myanmar through providing humanitarian assistance, facilitating the repatriation process, and promoting sustainable development in Rakhine state”.
More than 740,000 Rohingya Muslims, a persecuted ethnic minority group in mostly-Buddhist Myanmar, have fled from the country’s westernmost state to neighbouring Bangladesh since August 2017 to escape a brutal military crackdown on insurgents.
Regarding the South China Sea disputes involving several Asean members and China, the statement says “concerns were expressed on the land reclamations, recent developments and serious incidents, which have eroded trust and confidence, increased tensions and may undermine peace, security and stability in the region”.