Hun Sen, the leader of Cambodia, made a call for unity today, telling an audience that included representatives from China, Russia, and the United States that the current state of global tensions has affected everyone.
At the start of the East Asia Summit, the prime minister of the nation that rotates as ASEAN’s chair stated that working together to resolve differences amicably was in everyone’s best interest.
The remarks come at a time when regional tensions between the United States and China remain high over Taiwan and Beijing’s expanding regional ambitions, as well as at a time when the Russian invasion of Ukraine has disrupted global supply chains and driven up energy and food prices outside of Europe.
Hun Sen expressed his wish for leaders to embrace a “spirit of togetherness in upholding open and inclusive multilateralism, pragmatism and mutual respect in addressing the existential and strategic challenges we all face” without mentioning any particular country by name.
“Many current challenges and tensions have been hindering our past hard-earned efforts to promote sustainable development and causing greater hardship to people’s lives,” he said as he opened the meeting, which is running in parallel to the ASEAN group’s main summit.
It took place the day before US Vice President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s highly anticipated meeting at the Group of 20 summit in Bali, and participants included US Vice President Joe Biden and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.
At the meetings, which also included the leaders of Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, and other nations, was Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister.
Yesterday, Biden promised that the US would work with ASEAN, telling leaders of the strategically vital coalition that “we’re going to build a better future that we all want to see” in the region where US rival China is also working to expand its influence.
In order to create a region that is “free and open, stable and prosperous, resilient and secure,” he pledged to work with others.
Biden said, citing climate and health security as two areas of collaboration, “I look forward to continuing our work together with ASEAN and with each of you to deepen peace and prosperity throughout the region to resolve challenges from the South China Sea to Myanmar and to find innovative solutions to shared challenges.”
Li Keqiang, meantime, told a meeting of ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea that amid a “turbulent” global security situation, “unilateralism and protectionism are surging, economic and financial risks are rising, and global development is confronted with unprecedented challenges”.
Li stated that the group had to “remain committed to promoting peace, stability, development, and prosperity in the region and beyond, as well as to improving the people’s wellbeing” because they were major East Asian economies “..
In the midst of global tensions, Southeast Asian leaders call for unity.
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