For the first time in three years, Myanmar has sent a delegation to the ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos, marking the junta's debut appearance at a high-level ASEAN meeting.

Since the military coup in Myanmar in February 2021, ASEAN had barred junta leaders from attending summit meetings. In October 2021, ASEAN allowed Myanmar to send "non-political representatives" to the meetings.

However, the military leaders of Myanmar rejected the invitations and boycotted all meetings in protest of ASEAN's interference in Myanmar’s internal affairs.

Weaving the Path to Peace

At this year’s ASEAN Summit, Myanmar has sent Aung Kyaw Moe, the Permanent Secretary of Myanmar, as its official representative. He participated in the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting on Tuesday, expressing hopes that ASEAN member states would understand Myanmar's complex situation and support efforts toward peace.

During the regional summit, Southeast Asian leaders met with the junta's representative in an attempt to revive stalled diplomacy, aiming to bring an end to the civil war in Myanmar. Over the past three years, ASEAN has struggled but failed to negotiate a resolution to the Myanmar crisis, which has claimed thousands of lives and displaced millions of people.

This time, the junta took a different approach, withdrawing from direct leadership roles and sending a senior Foreign Ministry official to attend the three-day meeting in Laos—marking their first high-level ASEAN summit representation in over three and a half years.

Myanmar's decision to send Aung Kyaw Moe to the ASEAN Summit comes amid a series of military defeats following a major coordinated offensive by three ethnic minority rebel groups a year ago. This step was taken just two weeks after the military unexpectedly offered dialogue with their opponents, as part of an effort to end the ongoing conflict after suffering battlefield losses.

Now, officials hope that this first face-to-face meeting in three and a half years between ASEAN leaders and the junta's representative, Aung Kyaw Moe, could pave the way for peace in Myanmar.

Ongoing South China Sea Dispute

In addition to Myanmar, the ASEAN Summit also addressed the escalating tensions in the South China Sea. During the summit, several ASEAN members voiced concerns over China’s activities, urging the country to comply with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Chinese vessels have reportedly become increasingly aggressive toward Filipino ships in the disputed waters. Vietnam also condemned and reported "brutal actions" by Chinese law enforcement personnel, who attacked, robbed fish, and seized equipment worth thousands of dollars from Vietnamese fishing boats near the Paracel Islands in late September, injuring ten fishermen.

Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, a strategic waterway with trillions of dollars in trade passing through it. Four ASEAN members—the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Brunei—have overlapping claims over various small islands and reefs in the region.