Cambodia announced on Wednesday that an in-person ASEAN foreign ministers meeting scheduled for next week would be postponed, a development that may have been influenced by the regional group’s response to military rule in Myanmar.
Cambodia, which holds the chairmanship of this year’s 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said the postponement was due to “the fact that it is difficult for many ASEAN foreign ministers to visit Cambodia” for the January 18-19 meeting. It is said that
Screenshot of representatives from various countries participating in the Emergency Online Meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on October 15, 2021 (Photo provided by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand) (Kyodo News)
A new date for the meeting has not been announced, but it is expected to be held in Siem Reap, in northwestern Cambodia. The regular but important meeting was supposed to be the first opportunity for ASEAN foreign ministers to meet face-to-face since Cambodia assumed the ASEAN rotating chair earlier this year.
Some member states, including Indonesia and Malaysia, are pushing for a return to democratic rule in Myanmar after the military ousted the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup last February.
Cambodia, by contrast, appears keen to reintegrate Myanmar’s military junta into ASEAN diplomacy after the regional group began excluding its military leaders from ASEAN-related summits in October.
Sources said Indonesia and Malaysia wanted to hold virtual talks due to domestic issues, but Brunei is preoccupied with the upcoming royal wedding.
Since the coup in February, ASEAN has called for an end to the violence and for an ASEAN envoy to be sent to meet with “all concerned”. However, the military government has not responded to that request.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen visited Myanmar last week, becoming the first foreign leader to do so since the coup. During his two-day visit, he met with military leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
ASEAN member states were debating whether to allow military-appointed foreign ministers to attend foreign ministers’ meetings.
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