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News > Brunei

ASEAN Calls for an End to Violence and Dialogue in Myanmar

  • Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha (C) along with other ASEAN countries' leaders, excluding Myanmar, attend the 39th ASEAN meeting hosted by Brunei via video conference, in Bangkok, Thailand, 26 October 2021. EPA

    Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha (C) along with other ASEAN countries' leaders, excluding Myanmar, attend the 39th ASEAN meeting hosted by Brunei via video conference, in Bangkok, Thailand, 26 October 2021. EPA | Photo: Twitter @MizzimaNews

Published 28 October 2021
Opinion

The crisis in Myanmar, economic recovery post-COVID-19, and geopolitical tensions in the Pacific Ocean were some main issues addressed at this leaders' summit, which was held online due to the pandemic.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) concluded Thursday its summit of heads of state and/or government, one of whose agreements were to call for an end to violence and constructive dialogue in Myanmar.

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 ASEAN, founded in 1967, is made up of Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, which now becomes its chairman.

Naipyidó has been plunged into a severe crisis since the coup d'état of last February 1, which placed a military junta at the country's head and frustrated the installation of a new government arising from the elections at the end of 2020.

In a communiqué, the leaders of the region, along with those of other countries outside the bloc such as the United States, China, Russia and Australia, called on the junta to comply with the agreements reached with ASEAN in April, including a dialogue between the different parties to the conflict.

However, the de facto Myanmar authorities did not send any representatives to the bloc's online summit, after it was decided to veto the head of the military junta, Min Aung Hlaing.

 The trigger for the Myanmar general's exclusion was the cancellation in early October of the trip of ASEAN's special envoy to Myanmar, Bruneian Erywan Yusof. The ASEAN envoy canceled the trip due to access restrictions imposed by the military command, which did not allow him to meet deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

ASEAN upgraded its diplomatic relationship with Beijing by establishing what they called a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, noting that in 2020 China and the bloc became major trading partners for the first time, with trade worth the equivalent of US$516.9 billion.

The crisis in that country, economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions in the Pacific Ocean were some main issues addressed at this leaders' summit, which was held online due to the pandemic.

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