Top diplomats from Asia, Europe and North America gathered in Manila on Thursday for the ASEAN Regional Forum, with the escalating Middle East crisis and rising tensions in the South China Sea dominating discussions on regional and global security.
Foreign ministers and senior officials, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and representatives from China, Japan, India, Australia, Britain and the European Union, called for renewed diplomatic efforts to ease hostilities in the Middle East and address mounting security challenges.
Opening the forum, Philippine Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro stressed the need for greater international cooperation, saying no country could confront today’s increasingly complex security threats alone.
The meeting came as the United States carried out a 12th consecutive night of military strikes on Iran, while Iran-aligned Houthi forces claimed attacks on two Saudi oil tankers, heightening concerns over the security of the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea shipping routes, both vital to global energy supplies.
Addressing officials from ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying warned that the world had entered a period of heightened instability and urged countries to work together to preserve peace and regional stability.
A day earlier, Rubio reiterated Washington’s preference for a diplomatic resolution to the Middle East crisis but accused Tehran of failing to engage constructively.
Rubio also held nearly an hour of talks with Lavrov on Thursday, discussing the war in Ukraine and efforts to improve US-Russia relations.
According to Russia’s Foreign Ministry, Lavrov reaffirmed Moscow’s commitment to resolving the conflict through political and diplomatic means and expressed support for proposals advanced by the leaders of both countries. The US State Department said the discussions also focused on bilateral relations and efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
Beyond the Middle East, the forum focused on escalating tensions in the South China Sea, where long-running territorial disputes between China and the Philippines continue to raise regional security concerns.
The latest confrontation followed an encounter earlier this week between Chinese coast guard vessels and Philippine naval personnel near a disputed reef within Manila’s exclusive economic zone, prompting both governments to summon each other’s ambassadors.
On Thursday, China’s coast guard accused the Philippines of carrying out provocative actions near the disputed Scarborough Shoal, saying it had blocked what it described as an unlawful intrusion. The Philippine Coast Guard, however, said one of its fisheries vessels on a humanitarian mission was struck by water cannon during the confrontation.
Beijing claims sovereignty over nearly the entire South China Sea, overlapping with the maritime claims of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. China continues to reject a 2016 international arbitration ruling that found its sweeping territorial claims have no legal basis under international law.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi did not attend the forum, opting instead to travel to Kyrgyzstan for another regional meeting. Before his departure, Wang urged ASEAN member states to safeguard peace in the South China Sea and resist what he described as external interference in regional affairs.
Meanwhile, China began two days of live-fire military exercises in parts of the Taiwan Strait on Thursday, a day after Wang and Rubio held talks in Manila that also covered Taiwan, underscoring growing strategic tensions across the Indo-Pacific.
Goodness Anunobi
