TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Indonesia promotes dialogue amid tension-heavy ASEAN talks
Suspicion between nations and exchanges of jabs were on display at the Vientiane summit, which had sought to encourage dialogue and de-escalation amid numerous geopolitical conflicts.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Vice President Ma'ruf Amin (right) attends the 27th ASEAN Plus Three Summit as part of the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits at the National Convention Centre in Vientiane on Oct. 10, 2024. (Antara/M Agung Rajasa)
I
ndonesia has once again called upon countries to resolve problems through multilateralism and diplomacy, underlining the need to uphold international law as geopolitical tensions and distrust continued to overshadow the three-day ASEAN summit in Laos.
Suspicion between nations and exchanges of jabs were on display at the Vientiane summit, which had sought to encourage dialogue and de-escalation amid numerous geopolitical conflicts including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Israel’s offensive in the Middle East and the interminable political crisis in Myanmar. Tensions loomed over the talks, with ASEAN in the middle and attempting to assert its convening power.
The maritime disputes in the South China Sea once again became a hot-button issue at the summit, with Beijing’s overlapping claim with several ASEAN members and the United States’ increased presence in the region adding to the lack of agreement during the talks.
Representing US President Joe Biden on Friday, Washington’s top diplomat Antony Blinken spent a portion of his opening speech expressing disapproval over China’s activities at the South China Sea. Blinked underlined that the US stood ready to make itself present in the region to maintain security and stability.
“We are very concerned about China’s increasingly dangerous and unlawful activities in the South China Sea [which have] contradicted commitments to peaceful resolutions of dispute,” he said. “The [US] will continue to support freedom of navigation, and freedom of overflight in the Indo-Pacific.”
Blinken’s statement came just a day after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos confronted Chinese premier Li Qiang also at the Laos talks, arguing that Beijing’s economic prowess and ties with Southeast Asian nations must be accompanied by a commitment to the region’s political security. The Philippines last year joined military forces with the US, following various altercations in the contested waters with Chinese vessels.
Read also: Russia calls US actions in Asia 'destructive' at ASEAN summit
