ASEAN unity faces test as energy crisis, regional conflicts loom over summit

Southeast Asian foreign ministers begin meetings in Manila on ‌Saturday ​as the regional bloc seeks a coordinated response to surging energy costs, security tensions, and an approaching El Niño, challenges Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has said demand collective action.

"Especially at a time when we face multiple crises, from rising oil prices to security concerns and the approaching El Niño, ASEAN needs to ‌act as one," Marcos said ahead of the meetings, which the Philippines will chair. "It is very important that we are united and find plans and solutions to address these problems." The meetings open a weekend of diplomacy culminating in the November 15 to 17 ASEAN summit, where ASEAN leaders will hold talks with counterparts from major powers including the United States, China and Japan, and discuss wide-ranging issues from the economic fallout from the Middle East ‌conflict, Myanmar, the South China Sea to transboundary pollution.

The gathering comes as the Philippines and other import-dependent Southeast Asian economies grapple with higher fuel costs, which have squeezed households and businesses and added to ‌inflation pressures. The crisis has also exposed the limits of regional energy security, with proposals for a shared oil stockpile still under study. A summit on the Asia Zero Emission Community, a Japan-led framework that aims to achieve energy security, economic growth and decarbonisation at the same time, will also be held next week.

US President Donald Trump, who will be in Manila for the summit, said this week he was unlikely to order new military strikes on Iran after appeals from countries including Qatar. The comments offered some reassurance ⁠to energy ​markets, though the prospect of renewed military action and disruption ⁠to oil supplies remains a concern for fuel-importing countries. For ordinary Filipinos, the impact of the conflict has been more immediate.

Ahead of the meetings, 50-year-old jeepney driver Lito Albino appealed to Trump to help end the conflict, saying ordinary workers were bearing the consequences ⁠of a war they had no part in. He said the conflict involving Iran had forced him to work longer hours for less money, and with three children and household expenses to cover, higher fuel costs had made it increasingly difficult ​to support his family.

"No one truly wins in a war. It is the poor and marginalised people like us who suffer the most," Albino said. MYANMAR TEST

Myanmar will also test ASEAN's ⁠ability to maintain a common position on the crisis that has engulfed the country since the military seized power in 2021. Leaders are expected to review the implementation of the bloc's five-point consensus, its main framework for addressing the crisis, Philippine foreign ministry spokesperson Dominic Xavier Imperial ⁠said ​at a press conference on Friday. Their decision will be reflected in a negotiated document to be issued after the summit.

The South China Sea will feature in discussions with China, with negotiations on a long-delayed Code of Conduct about 70% complete, Imperial said. He said the figure represented overall progress in negotiations, not the proportion of text agreed. Beyond the diplomatic meetings, Trump's visit is expected to draw protests from ⁠workers, students and left-wing groups, calling for an end to the Middle East conflict and the US-led Pax Silica to be scrapped.

Myanmar will also feature in protests planned during the summit, with activists demanding that ⁠ASEAN maintain its exclusion of coup leader-turned-president Min Aung ⁠Hlaing from leaders' meetings. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government in a 2021 coup, triggering a civil war that the United Nations estimates has killed 100,000 people and displaced more than 3.5 million.

Hlaing's military has received support from China, India and Russia. His administration has ‌gained increasing international recognition in recent months, ‌with some ASEAN countries reengaging and US officials holding secret talks as the Trump administration reverses years of ​isolation. (Additional reporting by Adrian Portugal; Editing by Kate Mayberry)