Gathered at the top, ASEAN looks at the Burmese case

The heads of diplomacy of the ten member countries of ASEAN meet this Wednesday, August 3 in Phnom Penh.

AP - Heng Sinith

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

The 55th ASEAN summit which begins this Wednesday August 3 in Phnom Penh will be held without Burma.

This was decided by the Foreign Ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including Cambodia, which chairs the association.

Advertising

Read more

It is clear that the five-point plan proposed by the bloc at the last summit in April 2021 to end the violence in Burma and facilitate a settlement of the crisis has not been followed by effects.

Far from it, the situation in the country has worsened. 

The atrocities committed by the junta, many times condemned internationally, have now reached a milestone with the

first capital executions of political opponents

since 1988. And others could follow.

United Nations experts have counted more than a hundred death sentences in more than a year.

The exclusion of Burma would not be on the table.

But the indignation could give way to sanctions which will be formalized at the next summit in November.

A working version of the joint statement, obtained by Agence France-Presse, refers to the " 

deep concern

 " of ASEAN, which calls on stakeholders to take " 

concrete actions

 " against the military regime.

Seeing the junta apply a death penalty for the first time in more than thirty years was a " 

serious step backwards

 ", reacted the head of Singaporean diplomacy Vivian Balakrishnan.

In the meantime, by not inviting the junta to this summit, the regional partners have sent Naypyidaw a clear message.

But Burma is not completely isolated for all that.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was to stop there to discuss defense and military cooperation, before joining his counterparts from Southeast Asia who will meet in plenary session in a luxury hotel in the Cambodian capital on the banks of the Mekong.

Other expected attendances are those of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

Sovereignty issues in the South China Sea, most of which is claimed by Beijing, to the detriment of Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei or the Philippines, all members of ASEAN, are another expected hot spot for discussions.

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_EN

  • ASEAN

  • Burma

  • Cambodia

  • China

  • Russia

  • United States