ASEAN Vows to Conclude Pact With China on Disputed Territory

(L–R) Malaysian Foreign Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir, Philippine's Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo, Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Thailand's Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai, Vietnam's Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Laotian Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith, Brunei's Second Minister of Foreign Affair Erywan Yusof, Cambodia's Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, East Timor's Foreign Minister Adaljiza Magno, and ASEAN Secretary General Kao Kim Hourn pose for a group photo during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers retreat in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Feb. 4, 2023. Achmad Ibrahim/AP Photo

JAKARTA, Indonesia—Southeast Asian foreign ministers vowed to finalize negotiations with China over a proposed pact aimed at preventing conflicts in the disputed South China Sea in their annual retreat on Saturday in Indonesia’s capital.

In the final session of their two-day meeting, the ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations also agreed to unite in their approach to implement a five-step agreement made in 2021 between ASEAN leaders and Burma’s military leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, that seeks to end that country’s worsening crisis.