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ASEAN, China Set Emergency Meeting to Combat Viral Epidemic

ASEAN, China Set Emergency Meeting to Combat Viral Epidemic

Indonesia’s top ASEAN official top diplomats from Southeast Asia are to meet their Chinese counterpart on Thursday in Laos in search of a collective response to the novel coronavirus outbreak, a senior foreign policy official from Indonesia confirmed to The Jakarta Post, as the region starts to reel from the effects of the epidemic. 

ASEAN foreign ministers are to convene in an upcoming emergency ministerial meeting in Vietniane to explore possible cooperation with China to share information and improve coordination among China and the 10-nation bloc to combat the virus.

A man wears a mask as he walks past a mural showing a modified image of the Chinese Communist Party emblem in Shanghai, China after the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, January 28, 2020. Image: Aly Song, Reuters
A man wears a mask as he walks past a mural showing a modified image of the Chinese Communist Party emblem in Shanghai, China after the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, January 28, 2020. Image: Aly Song, Reuters

 

The virus has infected upward of 50,000 people and killed nearly 2,000 – predominantly in China’s Hubei province and mostly in the central city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak. According to Nikkei Asian Review, cases are rising in the region, which depends heavily on trade and tourism flows with China. Nations have taken measures such as restricting travel, even as they brace for the economic impact of the outbreak. 

“[The meeting] will discuss further cooperation on the coronavirus [response] and also [to prepare for when] similar diseases occur in the future,” Indonesia’s top ASEAN official, Jose Tavares, as quoted by The Jakarta Post.

ASEAN foreign ministers held their annual retreat just last month in Vietnam, the country serving as chair of the association this year. 

Meanwhile, the ASEAN nations have already reached a substantial agreement to hold a summit with the United States in mid-March in Las Vegas, based on an invitation by US President Donald Trump, the sources said to ABS-CBN.

 

 

Indah Gilang Pusparani

Indah is a researcher at Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Daerah Kota Cirebon (Regional Development Planning and Research Agency of Cirebon Municipality). She covers More international relations, tourism, and startups in Southeast Asia region and beyond. Indah graduated from MSc Development Administration and Planning from University College London, United Kingdom in 2015. She finished bachelor degree from International Relations from University of Indonesia in 2014, with two exchange programs in Political Science at National University of Singapore and New Media in Journalism at Ball State University, USA. She was awarded Diplomacy Award at Harvard World Model United Nations and named as Indonesian Gifted Researcher by Australian National University. She is Researcher at Regional Planning Board in Cirebon, West Java. She previously worked as Editor in Bening Communication, the Commonwealth Parliament Association UK, and diplomacy consulting firm Best Delegate LLC in USA. Less
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