US-Sino rivalry trumps regional concerns
Tensions over developments in Taiwan overshadowed an Asian meeting of foreign ministers yesterday, diverting attention at a forum that had been expected to focus on efforts to end the crisis in Myanmar among other issues.
The gathering of foreign ministers hosted by Southeast Asia's regional bloc Asean has included counterparts from the United States, China, Russia, Japan and Australia.
But this week's meetings have seen diplomatic discord over US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan, which prompted China to conduct major military drills in the Taiwan Strait, including launching live missiles around the self-ruled island it claims as part of its sovereign territory.
"There is no justification for this extreme, disproportionate and escalatory military response," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a news conference on the sidelines of an Asean meeting. "Now, they've taken dangerous acts to a new level."
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Thursday called for restraint and warned of the risk of miscalculations and confrontation among major powers.
Asean ministers were joined yesterday for plenary sessions of the East Asia Summit and the annual Asean Regional Forum security gathering, attended by 27 foreign ministers.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov walked out of a session yesterday when their Japanese counterpart spoke, a person in the room said.
Asean issued a communique yesterday after a meeting of foreign ministers from the bloc.
The communique covered Myanmar but did not mention Taiwan. Asean said it was "deeply disappointed" by the limited progress made by Myanmar's military rulers in implementing a peace agreement to end the conflict in the country.
The communique recommended that an Asean summit in November assess progress by the junta in implementing the peace plan "to guide the decision on the next steps".
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