HANOI, Vietnam: Forced apart by the coronavirus pandemic, Southeast Asian leaders linked up by video Tuesday to plot a strategy to overcome a crisis that has threatened their economies and kept millions of people in their homes under lockdowns. The overall economic impact of the pandemic on the region will “likely be broad and deep,” according to an ASEAN assessment. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang was expected to join the video summit along with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. ASEAN holds about 1,500 meetings a year, but around 230 have been postponed to later this year due to the pandemic, including lower-level meetings with China on a proposed nonaggression pact in the disputed South China Sea. The territorial disputes, which involve China and five other claimant states, including ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei, are not part of the formal summit agenda.

Source: Manila Times April 14, 2020 06:00 UTC