ASEAN and China celebrate 30th anniversary of relations in Chongqing

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. co-chairs with China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi the Special ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers’ Meeting marking 30 years of dialogue relations on 07 June 2021.

CHONGQING, 09 June 2021 – The Special ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (SACFMM) was held in Chongqing, China, on 07 June 2021 to mark the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-China Dialogue relations.

As Country Coordinator, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. co-chaired the SACFMM with China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The Meeting marked accomplishments and milestones in 30 years of relations and reflected on the direction of future cooperation, which is among the most substantial in ASEAN’s external relations.

COVID-19 response and recovery were foremost on the agenda, with China pledging continued support to ASEAN Members States (AMS) in their fight against the pandemic, primarily through the provision of vaccines.

The Ministers called for intensified cooperation for economic recovery, encouraging the early implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and benefiting from opportunities in the complementarity between ASEAN’s Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025 and China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

The Ministers expressed concern about the situation in Myanmar and encouraged progress in the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus of the ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting that was held in Jakarta last 24 April 2021. Secretary Locsin pushed for dialogue and reconciliation while equally calling for the release and restoration of the status quo ante before the coup, and the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other political detainees. In these trying times, the Secretary noted, “solidarity and compassion is the path we are taking. It is the rain that grows flowers, not the thunder.”

On the South China Sea, the Meeting reiterated commitment for the full implementation of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and to the resumption of the momentum of negotiations for a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) which were earlier affected by travel restrictions caused by COVID-19. Sec. Locsin appealed for full support and sincere cooperation to achieve “our collective aspiration for the South China Sea to be a sea of peace, security, stability and prosperity; not a moat between the members of the family of Southeast Asian nations but a wide watery highway for trade and connection.” END