The three-day 27th China-ASEAN summit, the 27th ASEAN Plus Three summit and the 19th East Asia Summit began today in Vientiane, Laos under the banner “ASEAN: Enhancing Connectivity and Resilience.” China’s Premier Li Qiang is representing China and U.S. Secretary of State the United States. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will attend the East Asia Summit on Oct. 11. Laotian Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone is chairing the opening sessions, attended by representatives of the ten ASEAN member countries along with dialogue partners in what the China Global South Project called an “unusually fraught ASEAN summit.”
Fraught? Global Times pointedly titled its Oct. 8 coverage “ASEAN Summits To Eye Connectivity, Defying External Disruption,” noting that despite the regional challenges ASEAN faces, “this year’s ASEAN summits will first prioritize the region’s development.” At yesterday’s Chinese Foreign Ministry briefing spokeswoman Mao Ning elaborated that in a “new period of turbulence and transformation” taking place in the world, “in general East Asia has maintained the sound momentum of peace and development.” And while “instability, uncertainty and unforeseeable factors are on the rise … countries and people in the region cherish more the hard-won peace and stability, aspire more for common development and find it more important to respond to challenges through solidarity and cooperation.”
