Myanmar to be represented at Asean summit

The military government of Myanmar will send a senior official to a meeting of Asean leaders, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday, as the junta struggles in its fight against opposition forces.
The meeting, slated for Wednesday in Vientiane, will be the first regular summit joined by Myanmar since the military staged a coup in February 2021 and ousted the democratically elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
This week’s talks are emerging as a major test of Asean unity and relevance given the challenges posed by the conflict in Myanmar and mounting tensions in the South China Sea.
The Myanmar junta had previously boycotted meetings of Asean leaders after other member nations decided in October 2021 to allow only a non-political representative to attend, effectively excluding the junta chief, Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing.
According to the sources, Aung Kyaw Moe, the permanent secretary of the Foreign Ministry, will attend the summit on Wednesday and other Asean-hosted meetings with partner nations later this week in the capital of Laos, which currently holds the 10-member regional bloc’s rotating chair.
Myanmar’s decision to send a representative to the summit comes as the military has lost numerous positions amid a coordinated offensive launched a year ago by three ethnic minority rebel groups.
Earlier this year, the junta dispatched its senior officials to Asean foreign and defence ministerial talks, also held in Laos. The one-party state has taken a conciliatory stance towards military-ruled Myanmar.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.