Hanoi: Southeast Asian leaders held their annual summit by video Friday to show unity and discuss a regional emergency fund to respond to the immense crisis brought by the coronavirus pandemic. Long-divisive South China Sea conflicts were also in the spotlight.
The leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations talked online due to regional travel restrictions and health risks.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is a test for ASEAN,” Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said. He said the outbreak “is fanning the flame of dormant challenges” in the political, economic and social environment and helping escalate frictions among major powers.
Southeast Asian nations have been impacted by the pandemic differently, with hard-hit Indonesia grappling with more than 50,000 infections and more than 2,600 deaths, and the tiny socialist state of Laos reporting just 19 cases. The diverse region of 650 million people, however, has been an Asian COVID-19 hot spot, with a combined total of more than 138,000 confirmed cases that have well surpassed those of China, where the outbreak started. The economic toll has been harsh, with ASEAN’s leading economies, including Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, facing one of their most severe recessions in decades.
A high-priority project is the establishment of an ASEAN COVID-19 response fund which could be used to help member states purchase medical supplies and protective suits.
While the bloc has tried to project unity, it has been riven by longstanding rivalries and disputes, particularly in the South China Sea that mainly involve four of its members — Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei — pitted against China’s claims to one of the world’s busiest waterways. It’s also a crucial battleground for influence by Beijing and Washington.
The lingering disputes, along with the plight of Rohingya who are languishing in crowded refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh, were among the most thorny issues on the ASEAN agenda.
China has come under fire for what rival claimants say are aggressive actions in the disputed waters as countries are scrambling to deal with the viral outbreak. (PTI)
