JakartaPost-Aug 31
Discussions on fresh internal and external challenges awaited ASEAN’s current chair Indonesia, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said in an interview on Wednesday, as the region’s leaders prepare to convene next week in hopes of streamlining the bloc’s decision-making process over the coming year. Indonesia’s 2023 chairmanship of the regional bloc, which the minister suggested had been fraught with efforts to contain “crisis after crisis”, culminates in the 43rd ASEAN Summit and related meetings from Sept. 5 to 7 in Jakarta. The summit promises a flurry of meetings and outcome documents, more than 60 by Retno’s count, and expects to welcome the leaders of at least nine ASEAN member states and prospective member Timor-Leste, as well as top representatives of the bloc’s nine dialogue partners. Further, the leaders of Bangladesh and the Cook Islands, respectively the current chairs of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), are also slated to attend, underscoring Indonesia’s inclusive approach to developing the Indo-Pacific region. Among the hot-button issues is the ongoing negotiation on the code of conduct (COC) in the South China Sea amid rising tensions between China and the Philippines over the latter’s grounded naval vessel on the Second Thomas Shoal. Complicating things further, Beijing has also revealed a new official map on Monday, which includes the controversial nine-dashed line outlining its claim to the busy sea route that was invalidated in a 2016 international court ruling. China has overlapping claims in the South China Sea with several ASEAN countries as well as Taiwan, which it sees as a breakaway province. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/world/2023/08/31/challenges-abound-ahead-of-asean-summit-in-jakarta.html.
