PHNOM PENH (dpa-AFX) – The summit of the Southeast Asian association of states Asean ends this Sunday in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh. The US had courted the rising nations to counter China’s growing influence. The meeting was overshadowed by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, as well as recent missile launches and an impending nuclear test by North Korea.
At a three-way meeting in Phnom Penh, US President Joe Biden wanted to talk to Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol about the escalation with North Korea. The meeting also serves to prepare Biden for a summit on Monday with China’s head of state and party leader Xi Jinping on the Indonesian island of Bali.
The ASEAN meeting is the start of a series of three summit meetings: The two-day meeting of the group of major economic powers (G20) in Bali begins on Tuesday, in which Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) will also take part. Scholz has previously visited Vietnam and Singapore. The Asia-Pacific Summit (APEC) will then take place on Friday and Saturday in the Thai capital Bangkok./lw/DP/mis