Southeast Asian leaders open annual summit with major conflicts and their impact topping the agenda

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Southeast Asian leaders have opened their annual summit in the Philippine capital Manila for three days of talks

Southeast Asian leaders have opened their annual summit in the Philippine capital Manila for three days of talks

MANILA, Philippines -- Southeast Asian leaders opened their annual summit in the Philippine capital Manila on Sunday for three days of talks, including dialogues with world leaders led by U.S. President Donald Trump, whose crucial trip to Asia could help boost his standing after his party’s defeat in the midterm elections.

The talks by the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and their expanded discussions with Asian and Western heads of state would focus on the world’s most troubling conflicts led by the war in the Middle East, according to drafts of post-summit communiques seen by The Associated Press.

Trump is expected to land in Manila with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday afternoon, after the main ASEAN summit meetings have concluded and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. turns over the regional bloc’s rotating annual leadership to Singapore, Philippine officials said.

The ASEAN leaders are likely to renew calls for self-restraint and peaceful resolutions of conflicts, including longstanding disputes in the South China Sea and a civil war in Myanmar. They also are expected to press efforts to shield their economies and citizens from continuing fallout from intractable global conflicts.

“We reaffirmed our shared commitment to upholding international law, including the United Nations Charter,” the leaders’ draft statement says.

The statement also underlines the “importance of the peaceful resolution of disputes, upholding freedom of navigation and overflight and other lawful uses of the sea, including the right of transit passage in straits used for international navigation.”

Marcos said it’s crucial that despite the 11-nation regional bloc’s diversity, it has remained committed to remaining united in the face of headwinds.

“That commitment matters even more as the waters around us turn on shifting tides, geopolitical…

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