July 25, 2024 |
SOUTHEAST ASIA ROUNDUP

 

By API Desk | Date 07-25-2024

 

ASEAN holds annual ministerial meeting in Laos

Myanmar will send a senior official to attend the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ministerial meeting this week, diplomatic sources said.

This will be the third time this year Myanmar will send a senior official after ASEAN imposed a ban on the generals due to a coup in the Southeast Asian state.

The conflict between the military and opposition forces in Myanmar will be on the agenda for the ministers’ meeting as ASEAN member countries follow up on implementing a five-point consensus reached between Myanmar and other ASEAN members in April 2021.

The sources said ASEAN will seek greater involvement from its partner nations in providing humanitarian assistance to Myanmar during the talks.

Three million people have been displaced in Myanmar, and 18.6 million are in need of humanitarian aid amid the conflict, according to the United Nations.

 

Austin visits allies in the Indo-Pacific region

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III will travel to Japan and the Philippines for a series of meetings with Japanese, South Korean, and Filipino counterparts on his 11th official visit to the Indo-Pacific since taking office.  

Austin and US State Secretary Antony Blinken will be meeting their counterparts to reaffirm the US’s “ironclad commitments to its allies in the face of China’s increasing presence and activities in the region.”

In Japan, Austin will meet with Japanese Minister of Defense Kihara Minoru and Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Affairs Kamikawa Yoko as part of this year’s U.S.-Japan Security Consultative Committee meeting.

Austin and Kihara will also meet with the South Korean Minister of National Defense for the first-ever Trilateral Ministerial Meeting, a key component of the three nations’ security cooperation dialogue.

In the Philippines, Austin and Blinken will meet with Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro and Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo as part of the fourth U.S.-Philippines 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue. 

 

US offers assistance to Philippine resupply missions

The United States has offered to help the Philippines deliver essential supplies to BRP Sierra Madre, promising to “do what is necessary” to stop China from harassing supply boats.

Speaking at a security forum, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States has clarified to China that its Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) with the Philippines applies to the Sierra Madre. 

“The most important thing right now is to see de-escalation and the ability of the Philippines to do resupplies,” he said.

Sullivan said the U.S. would prefer that China would not disrupt the Philippine resupply mission to a small crew on the warship Sierra Madre, which Manila beached in 1999 to reinforce maritime claims in the South China Sea contested by China.

 

Singapore, Philippines expand defense cooperation

Singapore and the Philippines signed a defense deal to expand regional security cooperation, coinciding with the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

However, more details are needed about how the memorandum of understanding could help address security concerns in a region where tensions have been rising.

A Singaporean official said the agreement differs from a so-called status-of-forces agreement that the Philippines has signed with three countries which allows large-scale joint combat exercises.

Ng said Singapore is not interested in signing a Visiting Forces Agreement-like deal with the Philippines as they already have a defense agreement with bigger states such as the US and Australia.