US, China, Russia join Asia summit amid regional disputes
The Hindu
The three-day ASEAN meetings have been clouded by a diplomatic standoff after military-ruled Myanmar skipped the summit in protest of ASEAN’s move to bar Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, whose forces seized power in February, from attending.
President Joe Biden and China’s Premier Li Keqiang will join an annual summit of 18 Asia-Pacific nations by video on Wednesday in a region where the world powers have dueled over trade, Taiwan, democracy, human rights and Beijing’s increasingly assertive actions in disputed territories.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will also speak at the East Asia Summit, a wide-ranging forum on political, security and economic issues organized by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The World Health Organization is expected to brief the leaders on the pandemic, which has set back the economies of the 18 countries representing more than half of the world’s population and accounting for over 60% of global GDP.