Southeast Asian foreign ministers will hold a closed-doors retreat in Malaysia on Sunday, as the country hosts its first meeting as chair of the regional bloc Asean amid an intensifying civil war in Myanmar and confrontations in the South China Sea.
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Malaysia takes its turn as rotating chair of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Aeean) as the bloc contends with Beijing’s assertiveness in the South China Sea and a faltering Asean peace process for Myanmar, where the ruling military plans to hold an election this year.
Malaysia is committed to addressing regional issues, but expectations on Myanmar and the advancing of talks on an Asean-China code of conduct for the South China Sea should be measured, a top official said.
“To say that we will have a solution immediately is going to be very ambitious,” Malaysian foreign ministry secretary general Amran Mohamed Zin told a media briefing ahead of the retreat on Langkawi island.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since early 2021 when its military overthrew an elected civilian government, triggering pro-democracy protests that morphed into a widening armed rebellion that has taken over swathes of the country.
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Despite being battered on multiple front lines, its economy in tatters and dozens of political parties banned, the junta is pushing to hold an election this year, which critics have widely derided as a sham to keep the military in power through proxies.