The Myanmar crisis will take center stage in the Association of the South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers meeting on Tuesday, July 11, in Indonesia.
This year's rotating chair of the organization, Indonesia, claimed to have had success in reaching out to all parties in Myanmar, where the military seized power in a February 2021 coup after overthrowing the democratically elected government.
However, it is unclear if Jakarta will explain to the other nine ASEAN members what it has accomplished or whether it will talk about specific solutions to end the impasse in the midst of the Myanmar junta's ongoing campaign of brutality against pro-democracy forces.
Following the two-day ASEAN summit, top US diplomat Antony Blinken will hold discussions with Beijing, Washington, and other leaders in an effort to counter China's assertiveness in the South China Sea.
As an ineffective talking shop for years, ASEAN is still divided over diplomatic efforts to end the Myanmar crisis.
Since a military coup overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi's government more than two years ago and started a brutal crackdown on the opposition, the nation has been wracked by terrible violence.
As Indonesia has adhered to the ASEAN position, allowing the junta to only send a nonpolitical person, Myanmar will not participate in the meetings.
However, Myanmar did take part in an ASEAN meeting last month after Bangkok had invited the junta's foreign minister.
This showed the gap between ASEAN nations that accept military rule to some extent and those that do not.
