Asean leaders call for restraint in disputed South China Sea, as US-China trade war rages on

This year’s Asean Summit opened with a push for the regional bloc to conclude a free trade pact with China and five other Asia-Pacific nations to cushion any impact from the US-China trade conflict

Asean leaders also urged a more ‘more visible and enhanced role’ of the 10-member bloc to support Myanmar in the repatriation of Rohingya Muslims

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Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:35pm, 23 Jun 2019Updated: 3:17pm, 13 Dec 2019

Southeast Asian leaders on Sunday pressed their call for self-restraint in the disputed South China Sea after a new incident in the Philippines, and renewed their alarm over the US-China trade war.

The long-raging territorial conflicts and the protracted dispute between the two global economic powerhouses were high on the agenda in the final day of meetings in Thailand between leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

The diverse 10-nation bloc, founded in 1967 in Bangkok in the cold war era, lumps together an absolute monarchy and constitutional monarchies, along with socialist republics and fledgling democracies. Leaders meet in a summit which member nations take turns to hold each year.

Facing regional predicaments such as the Rohingya refugee crisis in Myanmar, the leaders took the stage and clasped their hands together in a trademark Asean handshake to project unity.

Asean leaders at the opening ceremony of the Asean Summit in Bangkok. Photo: Xinhua

This year’s host, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, opened the summit with a call for regional unity and a push for Asean to conclude a massive free trade pact with China and five other Asia-Pacific nations to cushion any impact from the United States’ trade conflicts with China.