BEIJING, Feb. 20 (Xinhua): Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday night (Feb 19) held a phone conversation with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi. Both sides exchanged views mainly on the situation in Myanmar and coordinated positions in this regard.
Revisiting the Mekong River Amado S. Tolentino, JR.
THE Mekong River is the 12th longest river in the world and the largest international river within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Its headwaters originate in the Tibetan region of China and flows into five Asean countries, namely Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The river constitutes all the water resources of Cambodia and Laos as well as the northeast of Thailand and the Vietnamese “rice bowl” in the Mekong Delta.
Thus, it can safely be said that the waters of the Mekong are the “source” of life for the five Asean riparian countries for fisheries, agriculture, domestic water supply, flood control, hydropower, drought mitigation, navigation, tourism and recreation.
Reuters
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi travelled to Brunei on Tuesday (Feb 16) in an initial effort to rally fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to formulate a “better” response to the political turmoil in Myanmar.
Retno said she would also visit other Southeast Asian countries after her stop in Brunei, which holds the Asean chairmanship, in addition to holding phone calls with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday and with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday, although she would not elaborate on the agenda of the calls.
Retno announced her Brunei trip during a joint press conference in Jakarta with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó on Tuesday afternoon, saying “Asean’s mechanism should work better to constructively help solve” Myanmar’s political crisis.
US neglect drives Asean towards China in superpower economic rivalry, analysts say yahoo.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from yahoo.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
SINGAPORE: Singapore's foreign minister on Tuesday spoke out about "alarming developments" in Myanmar but said he did not support widespread sanctions on the country in response to a coup there, which could hurt ordinary citizens.