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Four top ASEAN diplomats head to China as Myanmar unrest boils over
China seeks to strengthen relations with ASEAN by inviting top diplomats from four nations to visit State Counsellor Wang Yi this week, as the incoming ASEAN-China dialogue coordinator, Myanmar, wrestles with social upheaval in the aftermath of the Feb. 1 military coup.
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Protesters take part in a demonstration against the Myanmar military coup in Musel, a town near the border with China, on Feb. 22. (AFP/STR)
T
he foreign ministers of four Southeast Asian nations, including Retno LP Marsudi, are to visit China this week at the invitation of senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi, as excessive violence in Myanmar threatens regional stability.
The ministers from Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines will take turns meeting with their counterpart in Beijing between Wednesday to Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday.
Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah confirmed that Retno was headed to China on Thursday, after concluding her first visit to Japan this year alongside Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto.
Another official said that Myanmar would be an issue of common concern with China, although the official could not speak to the substance of other countries’ concerns due to the different timings of the meetings with Wang Yi.
Malaysia’s foreign minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, is also expected to visit China on Thursday, an official statement from its ministry confirmed.
As state counsellor, Wang Yi visited Myanmar, Brunei and the Philippines in January, as well as Indonesia, as he hailed “broad common interests” toward recovery from COVID-19.
His visit occurred just two weeks before Myanmar’s armed forces, the Tatmadaw, launched a coup that toppled the country’s elected civilian government and which led to an outbreak of protest and civil disobedience movements. The military’s response has been a bloody crackdown that has left more than 500 people dead and over 3,000 dissenters arbitrarily arrested.
