ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting Kicks Off In Cambodia

The 55th meeting of the foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) began on Wednesday in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh to discuss COVID-19 recovery and regional issues.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Cambodian prime minister and chair of the ASEAN, Hun Sen, said the foreign ministers need to rethink the current situation in Myanmar if it continues to execute more prisoners.

"Cambodia, as well as all ASEAN member states, are deeply disappointed and disturbed by the execution of the opposition activists," said Premier Sen, according to a statement issued by his office.

The executions in Myanmar took place "despite the appeals from me and others for the death sentences to be reconsidered for the sake of political dialogue, peace, and reconciliation," he added.

"If more prisoners are to be executed, we will be forced to rethink about our role vis a vis ASEAN's Five-Point Consensus," he warned.

Cambodia is the chair of ASEAN for 2022, which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

ASEAN is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political and sociocultural integration between its members in Asia-Pacific.

Sen called the current situation in Myanmar worse, saying ASEAN has spent so much time and energy, and braved so many difficulties and criticism to help this country and its people find some political solutions.

"We will continue to do so without placing at risk, in any way, our ASEAN unity," the bloc's chair stressed.

The meeting is also being attended by the top diplomats of China, the US, and other several countries.

Sen also informed the foreign ministers that Cambodia has initiated the establishment of a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Secretariat in Phnom Penh.

"In line with the Broad Strategy 3 that is to maximize the potential of Intra-ASEAN Market and Broader Economic Integration, I believe we do need to have a standalone secretariat as soon as possible, to coordinate effective implementation of the RCEP that came into force last January," he told the participants.

Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has no plans to hold any separate meeting with his US counterpart Antony Blinken in Cambodia amid ongoing tension between Beijing and Washington over US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, the Chinese state-run Global Times reported.

Writing by Islamuddin Sajid -