Southeast Asia's top diplomats hold security talks in Manila as Iran war rages

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Southeast Asia’s top diplomats opened three days of talks in the Philippine capital Tuesday with an agenda topped by their most daunting security problems and a backdrop of unfolding crises led by the resurging war in Iran and a violent skirmish in the disputed South China Sea.

The foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations met behind closed doors before issuing a joint statement calling for an immediate halt to fighting in the Middle East and the full and safe reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

“We expressed serious concern over the rapidly evolving situation in the Middle East, particularly the renewed hostilities involving the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the ASEAN ministers said.

The ministers also said they reaffirmed the obligations of states to peacefully resolve their differences and respect national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Southeast Asia, a bustling region of more than 680 million people, relies heavily on Middle East oil and gas and was severely hit by the global supply and price shocks sparked by the Iran war. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a national energy emergency in March to ensure the availability of fuel, food and other basic goods and prevent hoarding and profiteering.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Manila on Tuesday morning for an annual meeting with his ASEAN counterparts on Wednesday, where the Middle crisis will be high in the agenda along with other security and economic issues.

Rubio plans to join regional security talks called the ASEAN Regional Forum, which also will include the European Union, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Rubio, Wang and Lavrov have not publicly announced any plan to meet on the sidelines. If Rubio and Wang speak, it would be the highest-level contact between the U.S. and China since President Donald Trump flew to flew to Beijing in May for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping that focused on the U.S.-Israel war on Iran, trade and the status of Taiwan, among other issues.

The three will attend a final forum Thursday called the East Asia Summit, where 18 Western and Asian countries, including the 11-nation ASEAN, will tackle geopolitical, economic and security concerns.

ASEAN ministers were scheduled to meet Wang Yi on Wednesday with an agenda that includes a discussion on the status of negotiations between China and the regional bloc on a proposed pact called a “code of conduct,” which aims to prevent territorial disputes in the South China Sea from spiraling out of control.

A new clash in the disputed waters underscored the urgency of the proposed nonaggression pact, which has been negotiated by the two sides for about two decades. They aim to conclude talks within the year.

The Philippine military accused China’s coast guard of injuring a Filipino sailor during an altercation Monday in the disputed Second Thomas Shoal.

Chinese coast guard personnel aboard a motorboat repeatedly struck the sailor on the head with a wooden baton, injuring him and damaging his smaller vessel, the Philippine military said.

Philippine officials condemned the Chinese coast guard, which blamed the Filipinos for starting the high seas confrontation. Marcos called the Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan for a meeting Tuesday afternoon, his spokesperson said without providing details.

Associated Press writer Michelle Price in Manila contributed to this report.