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Donald Trump’s secretary of state told a virtual meeting of foreign ministers not to “allow the Chinese Communist Party to trample us.” ASEAN, also known as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is made up of ten countries, including Vietnam and Thailand.
It aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its member states.
This ministerial meeting among ASEAN member states took place amid military tensions between the United States and China, which have issued sharp rhetoric about the South China Sea.
Both nations have also been moving military assets into disputed territory in the region, Al Jazeera reports.
Pompeo also insisted that ASEAN member states “not just talk, but act.”
The Chinese Embassy in the United States said: “The United States is not a country directly involved in the disputes. However, it has continued to interfere in the problem. “
The United States has had a strategic partnership with ASEAN for five years, which, according to the US State Department, is “built on our shared principles.”
The department added that Pompeo had discussed “urgent international issues” as well as health programs.
It said in a statement: “The ASEAN Secretary and Foreign Ministers shared their common position that all disputes in the South China Sea should be resolved peacefully and in accordance with international law, namely the Convention on the United Nations on the Law of the Sea “.
The group’s ministerial meeting was held this year in Vietnam, although members were represented virtually due to social distancing.
In addition to the military tensions in the South China Sea, the countries discussed the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asia Foundation representative Thomas Parks told Al Jazeera: “I think this is the most important thing on the minds of foreign ministers, and I think they will look for creative and practical ways to try to recover quickly in 2021.”
He said ways to allow tourism to continue between countries can be one of those measures.
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