Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will be arriving in Vientiane on Monday night ahead of a three-day gathering of Asean leaders and their regional counterparts.
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The issue concerning the South China Sea lately became a regional and global issue for those with common interests such as the developments in the South China Sea, terrorism and extremism, maritime security and other security issues. He will be accompanied by Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan and senior officials from the Foreign Ministry.
Taking place on September 6-9, the ASEAN Summit and related meetings will see the participation of leaders from 10 ASEAN countries, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the US, Russia, India, Australia and New Zealand, and the attendance of the UN General Secretary.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) meets with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in Vientiane, Laos, Sept. 7, 2016.
In addition, they will sign a non-binding declaration on coordinating responses to disaster relief, titled “One Asean, One Response: Asean Responding to Disasters as One in the Region and Outside the Region”.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said here Wednesday that China is ready to work with Malaysia to push bilateral relations and pragmatic cooperation in various fields to a higher level.
The world media is also closely watching Duterte’s conduct throughout the summit as he had made controversial remarks on US President Barack Obama and made threats against the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group.
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China, as ASEAN’s most active cooperation partner, is ASEAN’s largest trading partner, while the regional bloc is China’s third largest trading partner. In his absence, Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean will serve as Acting Prime Minister, PMO added.
