ASEAN Ministers meet with China, Australia, New Zealand
Southeast Asia's top diplomats met with their Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Thursday during the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference to review and discuss the future of ASEAN-China cooperation amid ongoing regional tensions and evolving global dynamics.
Held in Malaysia's capital as part of the broader ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the talks focused on regional and international issues of mutual interest, as well as progress in ASEAN-China relations. ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn also joined the discussions, News.Az reports, citing Anadolu Agency.
In parallel sessions, ASEAN foreign ministers met with Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong and New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters. The ASEAN-Australia meeting emphasized the 2025–2029 action plan under the ASEAN-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
"ASEAN matters to Australia because our security and prosperity are tied to this region," Wong said in a post on X.
In the ASEAN-New Zealand meeting, diplomats highlighted progress in the strategic partnership and looked ahead to the ASEAN-New Zealand Commemorative Summit, marking 50 years of bilateral relations.
Timor-Leste, which is seeking full ASEAN membership, attended the sessions as an observer.
The conference is part of ASEAN’s annual series of meetings with dialogue partners and will continue through Friday. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday for separate meetings with ASEAN officials.
Malaysia currently holds ASEAN’s rotating chairmanship for 2025. The 10-member bloc includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
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