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Today, Xinhua News Agency reported that four ASEAN Foreign Ministers: Singapore Vivian Balakrishnan, Malaysian Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and Philippine Foreign Minister Teodoro Locsin are scheduled to visit China from March 31 to March 2. April.
According to Xinhua, the visits came at the invitation of Mr. Wang Yi, a member of the State Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs of China. However, it is unclear whether the four previous foreign ministers have joined the same events in China or not, and Beijing has not announced the discussions during these visits.
According to the source of the sheet South China morning post The four foreign ministers from the former ASEAN bloc will come to Fujian and meet their host counterparts in Fujian.
On the same day, March 30, CNA (Singapore) reported that Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan will make a two-day trip from Fujian to Fujian and meet with Mr. Wang Yi.
“The visit reaffirms Singapore’s substantial and long-term relationship with China, both parties are working together to enhance the economic recovery after the Covid-19 epidemic,” according to CNA, citing a statement from Singapore’s Foreign Ministry.
Foreign Minister Vuong Nghi visited the Philippines in January 2121 and met with his host counterpart. |
The four foreign ministers of the ASEAN countries went to China unexpectedly, in the context of many regional developments that occurred recently. In which, a typical example is that many ships of the Chinese militia since the beginning of March were present near the rocky beach of Ba Dau in the Spratlys archipelago under Vietnamese sovereignty. This action has caused many concerns.
Additionally, also in March, the US stepped up talks with many Indo-Pacific (Indo-Pacific) countries to strengthen cooperation and respond to challenges, including China. On December 12, the first ever “diamond quartet” summit took place online, which included the United States, Japan, Australia and India. The joint communiqué from the meeting subsequently outlined many action plans and sent a critical message to China.
Subsequently, Secretary of State Antony J. Linken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin of the United States traveled to Japan and South Korea and met with their host counterparts. The joint statement after the meeting of the ministers of the United States and Japan also strongly condemned China.
On March 18, Secretary of State Blinken and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with a diplomatic delegation from Beijing that included a member of the Politburo, the Head of the Foreign Relations Committee Office, Duong Khiet Tri and Foreign Minister Vuong Nghi. The conversation was quite tense.
Therefore, Beijing’s invitation to the foreign ministers of the four ASEAN countries may be aimed at pushing for greater cooperation in response to intensifying US diplomatic pressure on China. This effort by China at the same time relieves pressure from the United States and at the same time takes advantage of the ASEAN countries amid the tension in the South China Sea.
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