Top Southeast Asian diplomats hold summit with China's foreign minister
Top diplomats from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) convened in Kuala Lumpur for a series of crucial meetings, prominently featuring a summit with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday.
The gathering, part of the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference held concurrently with the broader ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting, provided a vital platform to assess the advancements in ASEAN-China cooperation and to engage in candid discussions on a range of regional and international issues of shared concern and interest.
Beyond their engagement with China, the ASEAN foreign ministers also held significant dialogues with their counterparts from Australia and New Zealand. These discussions aimed at reinforcing existing partnerships and charting future collaborative directions. With Australia, the focus was on advancing the ASEAN-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, including the practical implementation of a new action plan spanning from 2025 to 2029. "ASEAN matters to Australia because our security and prosperity are tied to this region," affirmed Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong on X following the meeting, underscoring the strategic importance of the bloc to Canberra.
Similarly, the meeting with New Zealand's top diplomat, Winston Peters, saw ASEAN foreign ministers commend the progress in their cooperation and explore avenues to further strengthen their strategic partnership. Both sides expressed anticipation for the upcoming ASEAN-New Zealand Commemorative Summit, set to celebrate the golden jubilee of their diplomatic relations.
The presence of Timor-Leste as an observer at the meeting signals the evolving dynamics of regional engagement and potential future expansion of ASEAN. Adding to the high-level diplomatic activity in Kuala Lumpur, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also arrived on Thursday, slated to hold separate meetings with the ASEAN foreign ministers. This convergence of global diplomatic heavyweights in the Malaysian capital underscores the significant geopolitical relevance of ASEAN as a central player in Indo-Pacific affairs.
The post-ministerial conference, which commenced on Tuesday, is scheduled to conclude on Friday, facilitating extensive diplomatic exchanges. As of 2025, Malaysia has assumed the rotating chair of ASEAN, an intergovernmental organization comprising ten member states: Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Brunei, Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, Cambodia, Singapore, and Malaysia.
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