ASEAN urged to focus on regional peace

This year's first ministerial meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has shown that the regional bloc will focus on continuity of the gains secured in previous years and promoting peace and security amid intra-regional conflicts, analysts said.

The ASEAN foreign ministers concluded their first meeting in 2026 by committing to the peaceful resolution of the Myanmar crisis and the Thailand-Cambodia border conflict.

The meeting was held in the central Philippine province of Cebu. The Philippines is this year's rotating chair of ASEAN.

In a joint statement issued on Jan 29, they reaffirmed the bloc's commitment to advancing the implementation of the five-point consensus reached in April 2021 after the Myanmar military took power. The ministers emphasized the bloc's commitment to helping Myanmar in charting a future, and finding a peaceful solution to the crisis.

The ministers also welcomed the Joint Statement of the 3rd Special General Border Committee Meeting between Cambodia and Thailand, and called for its full and effective implementation.

Lucio Blanco Pitlo III, a research fellow at the Manila-based Asia Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation, said that while Malaysia — last year's ASEAN chair — brokered a deal that helped to de-escalate the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, the situation remains volatile.

Pitlo said that as this year's ASEAN chair, the Philippines needs to exert more efforts to get both sides to commit to a peaceful settlement of the border dispute. This is on top of other regional priorities such as the conclusion of the Digital Economy Framework Agreement and the ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement.

Ilango Karuppannan, a former Malaysian diplomat, said the ASEAN chairmanship is not about resolving issues within a single year.

"It is about stewardship, continuity, and maintaining ASEAN's effectiveness amid long-term regional and global challenges," Karuppannan told China Daily.

Karuppannan, who is also an adjunct professor at the International Institute of Public Policy and Management at the University of Malaya, said that in terms of continuity from Malaysia's chairmanship, one important area the Philippines could build on is the convening of a framework agreement between ASEAN, China and the Gulf Cooperation Council — a trilateral pact on economic and strategic cooperation that was signed last May in Kuala Lumpur.

He said the agreement reflects ASEAN's growing role as a connector between major economic regions, adding that carrying this forward would reinforce ASEAN's centrality in an increasingly fragmented global order.

Klaus Heinrich Raditio, a lecturer in Chinese politics in Indonesia, said the Philippines faces a "Herculean task" in its chairmanship. It needs to preserve ASEAN cohesion and ensure that ASEAN norms are upheld by both regional actors and major powers, he said.

Karuppannan said that while domestic considerations will shape the priorities and emphasis of any rotating ASEAN chair, ASEAN diplomacy is consensus-based and member-driven.

Leonardus Jegho in Jakarta contributed to this story.

prime@chinadailyapac.com