New ASEAN Chief Seeks South China Sea Talks
Posted on January 17, 2013
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations welcomed its new secretary general Le Luong Minh on Wednesday, at a time when the regional grouping faces some of the biggest challenges in its 46-year history.
Those include:
- a slowing global economy,
- a rise in natural disasters; and,
- security threats that could jeopardize regional peace and stability.
A key challenge will be finding a solution to territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
Minh is the past deputy foreign minister for Vietnam, one of the four ASEAN countries that claims sovereignty over a part of the area. The Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei also say they have rights to the waters, which hold abundant fisheries, provide vital trade routes and are said to be rich in oil and natural gas.sovereignty over those waters, but so too does regional giant, China.
Minh is the first Vietnamese representative to hold the post of secretary general of ASEAN. The five-year position rotates among the 10 member states based on alphabetical order. Next it will go to Brunei.
Read more at: http://www.voanews.com/content/new-asean-chief-seeks-south-china-sea-talks/1580362.html