Washington hopes to rally Southeast Asian nations to take tougher action against Myanmar's military junta and to push back on China's actions in the South China Sea as top US diplomat Antony Blinken heads to the region for meetings next week, a State Department official said on Friday.
WASHINGTON - Washington hopes to rally Southeast Asian nations to take tougher action against Myanmar's military junta and to push back on China's actions in the South China Sea as top US diplomat Antony Blinken heads to the region for meetings next week, a State Department official said on Friday.
Daniel Kritenbrink, the top State Department official for East Asia, told reporters that Myanmar, which was plunged into chaos by a 2021 military coup, would be "one of the key issues" discussed in Jakarta. "We do expect our friends and partners in ASEAN ... to continue to downgrade Myanmar's representation in the ASEAN ministerial and we also look forward to finding ways to increase pressure on the regime to compel the regime to end its violence and return to a path of democracy," Kritenbrink said during a phone call to preview the trip.
Kritenbrink said last week that countries in the region should make progress in resolving maritime disputes with each other in order to strengthen their collective voice in disputes with China in the South China Sea.
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