MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Southeast Asian leaders opened their annual summit in the Philippine capital Manila on Sunday for three days of talks, including dialogues with world leaders led by the U.S. president. Donald Trumpwhose crucial trip to Asia could help strengthen his position after his party’s defeat in the midterm elections.
The leaders’ talks Association of Southeast Asian Nations and their broader discussions with Asian and Western heads of state would focus on the world’s most troubling conflicts, led by the Middle Eastaccording to draft versions of post-summit communiqués seen by The Associated Press.
Trump is expected to land in Manila with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday afternoon, after major ASEAN summits conclude and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. hands over the regional bloc’s rotating annual leadership to Singapore, Philippine officials said.
ASEAN leaders will likely renew their calls for restraint and peaceful resolution of conflicts, including long-standing disputes in the South China Sea and a civil war in Burma. They should also redouble their efforts to protect their economies and citizens from the continued fallout of intractable global conflicts.
“We reaffirmed our shared commitment to upholding international law, including the Charter of the United Nations,” the leaders’ draft declaration said.
The declaration also highlights “the importance of peaceful resolution of disputes, respect for freedom of navigation and overflight as well as other lawful uses of the sea, including the right of transit passage through straits used for international navigation.”
Marcos said it was crucial that, despite the diversity of the 11-nation regional bloc, it remained committed to remaining united in the face of headwinds.
“This commitment is all the more important as the waters around us are influenced by changing tides, geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty, new technologies, climate change and transnational threats,” Marcos said in his opening remarks to his ASEAN counterparts at a high-security convention center near Manila Bay.
Marcos warned that problems across the world are “reshaping our region faster than any single country can respond alone.”
But unity remains an elusive goal within ASEAN, a diverse bloc of democracies and authoritarian states, many of which are aligned with the United States or China.
ASEAN is better known for its photo ops depicting unity, cultural pomp and pageantry than for its effective handling of the region’s conflicts, notably in Myanmar and the South China Sea.
Trump will attend three key meetings Tuesday evening, including a meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue made up of the United States, Japan, Australia and India, a group widely seen as a counterweight to China. He will also participate in a special summit with ASEAN leaders over cocktails, according to Philippine officials.
Trump will meet Marcos on Wednesday, who will receive him with a red carpet welcome and a state luncheon at the presidential palace in Manila. They are expected to renew their commitment to the decades-old conventional alliance before flying separately to the Chinese city of Shenzhen for the APEC summit hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“The short stopover in Manila will help reassure allies and partners that they will not be forgotten before he flies to Shenzhen to focus on meetings with Xi,” said US geopolitical analyst Greg Poling.
He added that the midterm electoral setback The difficulties suffered by the Republicans will track Trump in Asia.
“In China, the administration has tried to lower expectations; no substantial progress will be made between Trump and Xi,” Poling said. “With Trump politically weakened after the midterm blows here, it is likely that the Chinese side will be even less interested in compromising.”
China will be represented at the Manila summit by its Prime Minister, Li Qiang, who will meet ASEAN leaders on Monday but will leave before Trump arrives, Philippine officials said.
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Associated Press journalist Haruka Nuga in Tokyo contributed to this report.
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