ASEAN foreign ministers open annual meeting, to urge restoration of safe transit through Strait of Hormuz

Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) formally opened their annual meeting in Manila this morning with a call for unity in the face of maritime tensions and growing global instability.

In her opening address at the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, Philippine Foreign Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro said that in a world marked by "upheaval, uncertainty and unpredictability," the region had to respond with "active, deliberate problem solving."

"In a fractured global landscape, no single nation can weather these storms alone. Our strength and resilience lie in our community," she said. "If we do not move forward as one, we risk being pulled apart."

Week of Diplomatic Conclaves

Today’s meeting kicks off a week of diplomatic conclaves in Manila, involving counterparts from the United States, China, Japan, Russia, and numerous other countries.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are among the confirmed attendees for the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and the ASEAN Regional Forum, both of which will be held on Thursday. These major summits will be interspersed with dozens of sideline bilateral meetings between representatives of the participating nations.

Key Security Issues on the Agenda

Regional security issues are expected to dominate the meetings, including:

• Renewed fighting in the Middle East
• Ongoing tensions in the South China Sea
• Efforts to revive ASEAN’s stalled initiative for resolving the conflict in Myanmar

Strait of Hormuz and Middle East Tensions

The Associated Press reported yesterday that at today’s meeting, ASEAN’s foreign ministers were set to express their alarm about the renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran and threats to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, on which the region is heavily dependent for its supplies of crude oil.

In a draft statement of concern, a copy of which was obtained by the AP, the bloc’s foreign ministers "called for the restoration of the safe, unimpeded, and continuous transit passage of vessels and aircraft in the Strait of Hormuz."

"We underscored the importance of maintaining regional peace, stability and prosperity, upholding international law … including the need for a complete and immediate cessation of hostilities across all fronts in the Middle East," they said in the statement, which the AP said would be made public after the meeting.

"We acknowledged the further implications of the continued tensions in the Middle East on regional trade, energy and food security, including energy markets and supply chains, agricultural production."

Energy Security

The week is also expected to see renewed efforts on the regional energy security front, including the ongoing push for ratification of the bloc’s Framework Agreement on Petroleum Security fuel-sharing plan. The purpose of the plan is "to enable coordinated emergency fuel sharing and collective responses to supply disruption," Philippine Trade Secretary Cristina Roque said in April.

Myanmar Situation

Another issue expected to dominate the agenda today is the situation in Myanmar, which will be the subject of a standalone "extended informal consultation" today.

The meeting, intended to address the implementation of the bloc’s Five-Point Consensus initiative for resolving the country’s conflict, comes after ASEAN’s foreign ministers held their first face-to-face meeting with their Myanmar counterpart since the 2021 coup, which plunged the country into prolonged conflict and economic instability.

At the July 12 meeting in Bangkok, the bloc said it wanted to reboot the Five-Point Consensus, an April 2021 initiative that calls for an immediate cessation of violence and inclusive dialogue involving "all parties" to the conflict. The following day, Lazaro, the current ASEAN special envoy on Myanmar, held talks with military-backed negotiators and six rebel groups in Pattaya, which she and Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkaew reported were open to dialogue.

ASEAN Divided on Myanmar

ASEAN remains divided on how to deal with its errant member state. Despite agreeing to the Five-Point Consensus in April 2021, the Myanmar military has done little to implement its most important points, prompting ASEAN to bar its representatives from the organization’s annual summits.

At the same time, since taking office in April, the country’s new civilianized military administration has pressed hard for readmission into the ASEAN fold, with the support of sympathetic member states. The leading member of this camp is Thailand, whose foreign minister has pushed to bring Myanmar back into the "ASEAN family."

Other member states, albeit a shrinking coalition of them, have bemoaned the lack of progress on the Five-Point Consensus, which Myanmar’s military has largely ignored.