East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers silent on tariffs
Foreign ministers from countries participating in the East Asia Summit forum, which includes Japan, the United States, China and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, avoided discussing tariffs at a meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, apparently out of consideration for the United States.
While ASEAN countries are frustrated with US President Donald Trump's tariffs, the United States is their largest investor.
Unlike at the East Asia Summit gathering, ASEAN foreign ministers expressed concern about US tariffs at their meeting on Wednesday. The United States has notified Laos of a 40 per cent tariff and Thailand of a 36 per cent tariff.
Meanwhile, the East Asia Summit meeting addressed the situation in the South China Sea, where the Philippines and others have territorial rows with China. Some countries, including Japan, expressed concern over coercive actions in the area, apparently with China in mind.
Participants agreed on the need to draw up promptly a code of conduct to prevent clashes.
Regarding the situation in the Middle East, Malaysia, an Islamic country, and others criticised Israeli attacks.
The participants also agreed to cooperate in cracking down on online fraud groups based in Southeast Asia and causing damage in Japan, the United States, China and other countries.
As the East Asia Summit forum marks its 20th anniversary this year, Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan called for action based on humanitarian principles to end all conflicts.
The forum will hold a leaders' meeting in October.
On Friday, the ASEAN Regional Forum also held a ministerial meeting, and North Korea was absent for the first time since joining the group. North Korea's absence was possibly due to its severing of diplomatic ties with Malaysia in 2021.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
