ASEAN Emergency Foreign Ministers' Meeting Appoints a special envoy for the first time on the Myanmar issue

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations held an urgent foreign ministers' meeting and appointed the first special envoy to mediate the dialogue between Myanmar's military and pro-democracy forces in the coup d'etat.

On the 4th, ASEAN held an urgent foreign ministers' meeting online and announced that it had appointed Brunei's second foreign minister, Erwan, as a special envoy for the Myanmar affairs.

Regarding the selection of special envoys, ASEAN member countries other than Myanmar agreed with the second foreign minister, Elwan, while Myanmar had a difficult time because it wanted the former deputy foreign minister of Thailand, who has a close relationship with the military, and finally Myanmar. The side accepted the proposal of ASEAN.

At the summit meeting held in April, ASEAN agreed on five items, including the immediate suspension of violence and the dispatch of special envoys, but after more than three months, no major progress was made and the member states were impatient. Was spreading.

In addition to the agreement of the summit, the special envoy is expected to work toward humanitarian assistance for people in need due to the spread of the new coronavirus.

On the other hand, regarding the mediation of dialogue between the Myanmar army and the pro-democracy forces, it is unclear whether the military will promptly allow the special envoy to meet with the pro-democracy forces, and the focus will be on whether the special envoy can play a substantial role. ..

Joint statement also released Concerns over China

ASEAN also issued a joint statement summarizing the outcomes of the Foreign Ministers' Meetings held on the 2nd and 4th.

The statement included the statement that "multiple foreign ministers have expressed concern about serious cases such as landfills that increase tensions in the region and damage to the marine environment" regarding the issue of the South China Sea, which has a sovereignty dispute. While avoiding it, it has expressed concern about China, which is intensifying its marine expansion, such as making the islands of the South China Sea a military base.