By Mikhail Flores and Nestor Corrales
CEBU, Philippines, May 7 (Reuters) – Conflicts far beyond Southeast Asia are expected to dominate meetings of the regional ASEAN bloc that began on Thursday in the Philippines, with the Middle East crisis posing serious challenges for its fuel import-dependent economies.
Concerns of energy and food supply security will take centre stage in two days of meetings by leaders and ministers of the bloc of 11 nations, home to nearly 700 million, that is among the regions most exposed to fallout from the conflict.
The event’s chair, the Philippines, hopes ASEAN ministers can hammer out an oil-sharing framework agreement at special meetings held ahead of the summit.
“ASEAN needs to strengthen our crisis coordination and institutional readiness in times of crisis,” said Ma. Theresa Lazaro, the Philippine foreign affairs secretary.
“The ongoing crisis in the Middle East and its far-reaching repercussions … remind us that developments beyond our region can have immediate and profound effects on ASEAN,” she added, before a meeting with counterparts.
THAI, CAMBODIAN LEADERS TO MEET
Diplomats and analysts say the energy issue will prove a test of the Philippines’ skills as chair, forcing it to shape a regional response while preventing ASEAN’s own conflicts from slipping down the agenda.
These include Myanmar’s civil war and last year’s deadly and still unresolved border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia, despite an uneasy calm after a ceasefire.
The Philippines arranged a three-way meeting of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia later on Thursday.
“They want an atmosphere for an ASEAN meeting that will go well,” Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters in the Thai capital of Bangkok. “That’s why they want us to see each other.”
He did not elaborate on the topics to be discussed, but said he would be steadfast in defending Thailand’s interests.
“Any talks will have to be beneficial, protect Thai sovereignty and the public interest.”
Thailand and Cambodia have stuck to the ceasefire since late December, following two eruptions of fighting along stretches of their 817-km (508-mile) border, the first of which ended after intervention by U.S. President Donald Trump.
ACTION BEYOND RHETORIC
ASEAN, with a combined gross domestic product of about $3.8 trillion, has long struggled to coordinate its responses to crises, with meetings typically resulting in pacts to cooperate, rather than a clear strategy or concrete commitments.
However, the scale of the energy supply shock was likely to push the bloc beyond rhetoric, as no ASEAN country could escape the issue, said former Philippine diplomat Laura del Rosario.
ASEAN leaders are set to call for good-faith negotiations between the United States and Iran and a halt in hostilities, according to a working draft of a statement seen by Reuters.
It also called for international law to be upheld and traffic to flow unimpeded through the vital Strait of Hormuz, normally a conduit for a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies.
“We further stressed the need to preserve the unimpeded flow of energy and essential goods … in order to safeguard economic stability and strengthen resilience across ASEAN,” it said.
Such items included food, agricultural inputs, pharmaceuticals and fuel, it added.
It also urged swift progress to ratify an ASEAN fuel-sharing pact to ensure its “earliest possible entry into force”.
MYANMAR SEEKS RE-ENGAGEMENT
ASEAN leaders are likely to renew calls for completion of protracted talks on a code of conduct with Beijing on the South China Sea, with the 2026 target date a challenge amid competing interests. Beijing will not attend this week’s meeting in Cebu.
They will also consider the crisis in Myanmar, which has divided the bloc.
The nation’s new, nominally civilian government is keen to re-engage with ASEAN after an election swept by a party backed by the military, which had ruled for five years since a 2021 coup.
ASEAN has not recognised the election or said when the leaders of Myanmar, whose president Min Aung Hlaing is the former junta chief, can return to its summits after five years on the sidelines.
The government may need to convince ASEAN countries it is sincere about peace amid ongoing fighting, after recent steps such as two amnesties and a reduced sentence and transfer to house arrest for ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Little is known about the status or whereabouts of the Nobel Peace Prize winner and the Philippines called on Wednesday for its ASEAN special envoy to be given access to her, as a sign of Myanmar’s “genuine commitment to national reconciliation”.
(Reporting by Mikhail Flores in Cebu, Philippines and Nestor Corrales in Manila; Additional reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat in Bangkok; Writing by Karen Lema and Martin Petty; Editing by Alison Williams and Clarence Fernandez)
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