ASEAN welcomes world leaders as China-US rivalry overshadows region | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Tuesday
June 10, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2025
ASEAN welcomes world leaders as China-US rivalry overshadows region

World+Biz

Reuters
06 September, 2023, 12:10 pm
Last modified: 06 September, 2023, 12:13 pm

Related News

  • Malaysia backs Bangladesh's bid for ASEAN membership
  • CA Yunus seeks Dr Mahathir's help for Bangladesh's ASEAN membership
  • Brussels seeks companies' US spending plans as Trump hails move toward talks
  • Malaysia PM hails 'significant' engagement on Myanmar as Southeast Asian leaders meet
  • Southeast Asian leaders meet to talk tariffs, truce and East Timor

ASEAN welcomes world leaders as China-US rivalry overshadows region

Reuters
06 September, 2023, 12:10 pm
Last modified: 06 September, 2023, 12:13 pm
Philippines President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thailand's Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sarun Charoensuwan, Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Laos' Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao hold hands for a family photo before the start of the ASEAN-China Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, September 6, 2023. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/Pool
Philippines President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thailand's Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sarun Charoensuwan, Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Laos' Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao hold hands for a family photo before the start of the ASEAN-China Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, September 6, 2023. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/Pool

Southeast Asia's ASEAN bloc on Wednesday welcomed world leaders to Indonesia's capital for a summit likely to be dominated by worry about rivalry between the United States and China overshadowing the region.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has warned of the danger of getting dragged into other powers' disputes, will gather with US Vice President Kamala Harris, Chinese Premier Li Qiang, and leaders of various partner countries including Japan, South Korea, Australia, and India.

Neither US President Joe Biden nor his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, are attending the summit.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

High on the agenda is Southeast Asian concern over China's activities in the South China Sea, a strategic trade corridor where several member countries have overlapping claims with China. The bloc is keen to agree on a long-discussed code of conduct for the waterway.

The United States and its allies have echoed ASEAN's calls for freedom of navigation and overflight and to refrain from building a physical presence in the area. China has built various facilities, including runways, on tiny outcrops in the disputed waters.

"The vice president will underscore the United States' and ASEAN's shared interest in upholding the rules-based international order, including in the South China Sea, in the face of China's unlawful maritime claims and provocative actions," a White House official said on Tuesday.

Just before this week's gatherings, China released a map with its "10-dash line" delineating what it considers its waters, that appeared to expand its claims in the South China Sea.

The map was rejected by several ASEAN members.

Some ASEAN members have developed close diplomatic, business and military ties with China while others are more wary. The United States has also courted ASEAN countries with varying degrees of success.

ASEAN, in a draft of a statement it will issue this week and seen by Reuters, said it needed to "strengthen stability in the maritime sphere in our region ... and explore new initiatives towards these ends".

'GREAT DANGER'

Lina Alexandra, a political analyst at think tank CSIS, said the draft was "very weak on the issues of the South China Sea".

"This really threatens ASEAN's credibility," Alexandra said, noting that the Philippines was losing patience with ASEAN when it came to help on the South china Sea.

"If ASEAN is not useful that is a great danger, because the other option is they go up to the big powers and they bring these big powers to the region."

A source close to the matter verified the draft.

President Joko Widodo of ASEAN chair Indonesia warned on Tuesday that members must not become proxies in big-power rivalry.

Wednesday's talks follow an ASEAN-only summit this week with leaders seeking to assert the bloc's relevance in the face of criticism it is failing to press Myanmar's military leaders to cooperate on a plan for peace in their strife-torn country.

ASEAN member Myanmar has been gripped by violence since the generals overthrew an elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in early 2021.

ASEAN has agreed on a peace plan, known as its five-point consensus, that calls for an end to violence and dialogue among all parties but the generals have paid little more than lip service to it.

Myanmar on Tuesday rejected an ASEAN call for its armed forces "in particular" to de-escalate the crisis. Myanmar also ceded to the Philippines its turn to chair the grouping in 2026.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Top News

ASEAN / ASEAN summit / world leaders

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Right-wing Knesset members Itamar Ben-Gvir (Left) and Bezalel Smotrich, Jerusalem, September 2022. File Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen/Pool
    UK sanctions far-right Israeli ministers over comments on Gaza
  • BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir speaks to reporters at the BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office on 10 June 2025. Photo: Focus Bangla
    Fakhrul urges interim govt to rethink April election timing
  • A passerby walks near a building on fire at the site of a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 10, 2025. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
    Russia launches one of war's largest air attacks on Kyiv

MOST VIEWED

  • On left, Abdullah Hil Rakib, former senior vice president (SVP) of BGMEA and additional managing director of Team Group; on right, Captain Md Saifuzzaman (Guddu), a Boeing 787 Dreamliner pilot for Biman Bangladesh Airlines. Photos: Collected
    Ex-BGMEA SVP Abdullah Hil Rakib, Biman 787 pilot Saifuzzaman drown in boating accident in Canada
  • A photo showing the former president on his return to Dhaka today (9 June). 
Source: Collected
    Former president Abdul Hamid returns to Bangladesh from Thailand
  • File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar
    Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do
  • Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus leaves for a four-day visit to the United Kingdom from the Dhaka airport on 9 June 2025. Photo: CA Press Wing
    CA Yunus leaves for UK; discussion expected on renewable energy investment, laundered money
  • Inside the aid ship stormed by Israeli forces on 9 June 2025. Photo: BBC
    Israeli forces stormed aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg bound for Gaza: Freedom Flotilla Coalition
  • Enhanced surveillance at Ctg airport amid rising global Covid-19 cases
    Enhanced surveillance at Ctg airport amid rising global Covid-19 cases

Related News

  • Malaysia backs Bangladesh's bid for ASEAN membership
  • CA Yunus seeks Dr Mahathir's help for Bangladesh's ASEAN membership
  • Brussels seeks companies' US spending plans as Trump hails move toward talks
  • Malaysia PM hails 'significant' engagement on Myanmar as Southeast Asian leaders meet
  • Southeast Asian leaders meet to talk tariffs, truce and East Timor

Features

File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

1d | Features
Photo collage shows political posters in Bagerhat. Photos: Jannatul Naym Pieal

From Sheikh Dynasty to sibling rivalry: Bagerhat signals a turning tide in local politics

3d | Bangladesh
Illustration: TBS

Unbearable weight of the white coat: The mental health crisis in our medical colleges

6d | Panorama
(From left) Sadia Haque, Sylvana Quader Sinha and Tasfia Tasbin. Sketch: TBS

Meet the women driving Bangladesh’s startup revolution

6d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Greta Thunberg deported from Israel

Greta Thunberg deported from Israel

48m | TBS World
BNP is not a revolutionary party: Mirza Fakhrul

BNP is not a revolutionary party: Mirza Fakhrul

1h | TBS Today
Trump sends 2,000 more National Guard and 700 Marines to Los Angeles

Trump sends 2,000 more National Guard and 700 Marines to Los Angeles

2h | TBS World
Prison irregularities will be punished, warns Home Affairs Advisor

Prison irregularities will be punished, warns Home Affairs Advisor

2h | TBS Today
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net