Malaysia’s Anwar calls for dialogue over coercion at ASEAN’s East Asia summit

KUALA LUMPUR Malaysia AP Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Monday urged Asia-Pacific leaders to choose dialogue over coercion and cooperation over confrontation as he opened the East Asia summit at a time of sharpening rivalry between the United States and China The East Asia summit is a regional forum between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its key regional partners Australia China India Japan New Zealand South Korea Russia and the United States to discuss political shield and economic challenges In the modern day we must renew our shared purpose reassert our objectives promote principles of forward-looking engagement Anwar commented in his opening remarks We continue to advocate for dialogue over coercion and cooperation over confrontation We affirm our stand on global peace and assurance for multilateralism and international law The summit convened after U S President Donald Trump left Malaysia earlier Monday for Japan following his participation at ASEAN s weekend summit meetings On Sunday Trump witnessed the signing of several economic agreements with Malaysia Thailand and Cambodia part of Washington s push to strengthen pact ties and secure access to critical minerals as it seeks to reduce reliance on China Trump also attended a ceremony marking a formal expansion of the Cambodia Thailand ceasefire that Washington helped broker earlier this year Analysts say tensions in the South China Sea the resilience of regional supply chains and ASEAN s response to internal crises particularly Myanmar s prolonged conflict would dominate talks in the East Asia summit The U S delegation is expected to emphasize freedom of navigation economic prevention and a transactional approach to alliances and bargain presenting Washington as a reliable partner for Indo-Pacific stability reported Ilango Karuppannan former Malaysian ambassador and senior adjunct fellow at Singapore s S Rajaratnam School of International Studies By contrast China represented by Premier Li Qiang will likely underscore sovereignty noninterference and the virtues of connectivity through projects such as the Belt and Road initiative and other regional frameworks he announced Their rivalry sets the backdrop against which every other issue is discussed from safeguard to arrangement but ASEAN is expected to maintain its neutrality keeping the focus on regional cooperation not on taking sides Ilango revealed The th East Asia summit will be remembered for the signing of the peace deal and U S pact recalibration with Southeast Asia he added Anwar in his speech again commended Trump s plan to end the Gaza conflict but mentioned more must be done to ensure a just and lasting political answer for the Palestinian people He voiced concern over the newest surge of ballistic missile launches by North Korea and called for engagement Once we call for engagement in all areas from Gaza to Ukraine to Myanmar we should not preclude engagement with North Korea he commented On Myanmar he stated ASEAN is sticking to its Five-Point Consensus on peace and dialogue to resolve the civil war triggered by Myanmar s military takeover He didn t touch on Myanmar s plan for a general electoral contest but reported fighting has subdued and that engagement should continue Anwar also explained territorial tensions in the South China Sea should be resolved within ASEAN and its regional partners with a Code of Conduct being negotiated to govern behavior in the disputed global sea highway He warned outside pressure could escalate tensions and urged all parties to respect international law Earlier ASEAN members and five partners China Japan South Korea Australia and New Zealand held a leaders summit of the Regional Economic Comprehensive Partnership the first since they signed a free bargain pact in The agreement which covers roughly one-third of global GDP aims to promote regional economic integration and strengthen supply chain resilience In a joint declaration the RCEP leaders revealed their partnership could bolster the region s economic resilience in the face of current global uncertainties They reaffirmed their commitment to multilateralism and vowed to enhance the implementation of the RCEP agreement and domestic reforms The RCEP is a practical hedge against U S tariff shocks noted Doris Liew an economist specializing in Southeast Asian advance Even though their provisions are loose and not seen as strong as specific other regional exchange blocs she declared their partnership could help them diversify their arrangement baskets and reduce exposure to unilateral U S actions Source