CEBU, Philippines: Southeast Asian countries should steadfastly maintain restraint and adhere to international law as acts of aggression across Asia and “unilateral actions” elsewhere in the world threaten the rules-based global order, Manila’s top diplomat said Thursday.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro did not provide details of the geopolitical alarm she raised before her counterparts in the 11-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations who were holding their first major closed-door meetings this year in the Philippines’ central seaside city of Cebu.
Several ASEAN members, however, have expressed deep concern over the secretive US strike that resulted in the arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro on orders from US President Donald Trump. China’s intensifying aggressive stance on Taiwan and in the disputed South China Sea have also troubled the region for years.
Calling out the US and China, among the largest trading and defense partners of ASEAN countries, have been a dilemma and diplomatic tightrope.
“Across our region, we continue to see tensions at sea, protracted internal conflicts and unresolved border and humanitarian concerns,” Lazaro said in her opening speech before ASEAN counterparts.
