Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register PHNOM PENH, Aug 4 (Reuters) – Southeast Asian regional bloc ASEAN warned on Thursday of the risk that instability caused by Taiwan Strait tensions could lead to “miscalculation, serious confrontation, open conflict and unforeseen consequences between great powers”. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations made the remarks in a foreign ministers’ statement after its president, Cambodia, had urged all sides to de-escalate tensions over Taiwan. The meeting in Phnom Penh of the 10-nation bloc, attended by a number of other countries including China and the United States, was overshadowed by developments in Taiwan following a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “ASEAN stands ready to play a constructive role in facilitating peaceful dialogue among all parties,” ASEAN said as it called for maximum restraint and parties to refrain from provocative actions. Pelosi’s trip, the highest US visit to self-ruled Taiwan in 25 years, has sparked outrage in China, which has responded with a flurry of military exercises and other activity in the region. read more Southeast Asian countries tend to tread a cautious line in trying to balance their relations with China and the United States, wary of coming between the superpowers. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in comments after talks with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, said he was able to compare notes with a close partner “as we move forward into these very important ASEAN meetings”. “We have a shared vision together for a free and open Indo-Pacific,” said Blinken, who is not expected to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Cambodia. Blinken, who is among 27 foreign ministers scheduled to participate in an ASEAN Regional Forum security meeting on Friday, said his meeting with Jaishankar covered “the situation in Sri Lanka, Burma and a number of from other hot spots”.
STARTING MYANMAR
ASEAN talks were expected to focus on the bloc’s founding diplomatic push to resolve the crisis in Myanmar, also known as Burma, which has been in turmoil since the military seized power in a coup last year. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Wednesday that ASEAN would be forced to review a peace plan agreed with Myanmar if its military leaders execute more prisoners. ASEAN has pushed Myanmar’s junta to follow a peace “consensus” agreed last year and condemned the recent execution of four activists linked to a movement opposed to military rule, its first executions in decades. Myanmar’s junta last week defended the executions as “justice for the people”, drawing an outpouring of international condemnation. read more Myanmar is not represented at this week’s ASEAN meetings after its military rejected a proposal to send a non-junta representative. ASEAN has banned the generals until progress on the peace plan can be demonstrated. Some ASEAN members are increasingly harsh in their criticism of Myanmar. Singapore’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that Myanmar had “failed to respect” the peace effort, adding that “without any progress on this front, further engagement with Myanmar’s military authorities would be of limited value.” But some analysts and diplomats question what other measures ASEAN, which has a tradition of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, will be willing to take against fellow member Myanmar. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Narin Sun and David Brunnstrom in Phnom Penh. Written by Ed Davies Edited by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Robert Birsel Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
