As tensions rise in the Asia-Pacific region and crises boil in the Middle East and Ukraine, Southeast Asian defense ministers convened in Indonesia on Wednesday for two days of discussions that will include meetings with regional peers and the top of the Pentagon.
The defense chiefs of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will meet on Wednesday, followed by more extensive discussions on a region where Beijing and Washington are vying for influence the following day.
Representatives from the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, and Russia will participate in the enlarged negotiations on Thursday.
The meetings in Jakarta are expected to be dominated by issues ranging from the Myanmar crisis to the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza to Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea.
Muslim-majority Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo this week called on US President Joe Biden to do more to end “atrocities” in Gaza and help bring about a ceasefire.
His defence minister Prabowo Subianto opened talks on Wednesday echoing that call, saying he was “deeply saddened” by events in the Palestinian enclave where Israel has launched a relentless assault to destroy Hamas in response to attacks on October 7.
Subianto also said current ASEAN chair Jakarta is seeking a resolution to the Myanmar crisis, which has rolled on as the bloc’s diplomatic efforts have faltered.
“Indonesia encourages other ASEAN member states to support Myanmar to find a peaceful and durable solution to the current situation,” he told delegates.
The junta’s leaders have been banned from the bloc’s high-level meetings since failing to implement an agreed five-point peace plan following a 2021 coup.
The Jakarta talks come ahead of an eagerly awaited meeting between Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in San Francisco on Wednesday, the first encounter in a year between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies.
Encouraging disputes between the opposing superpowers have been caused by trade tensions, sanctions, the Taiwan issue, and Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea.
Regarding Austin’s meeting with Beijing’s envoy in Jakarta, the Pentagon has not verified.
Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines are among the ASEAN nations that are incensed at China’s actions in the disputed waterway.
In an effort to combat the notion that the region is irrelevant, the Southeast Asian bloc staged its first-ever joint drills in Indonesia in September.
