PM Jacinda Ardern at the East Asia Summit: A call to do more in Myanmar, flags concern about China

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has wrapped up her time at the East Asia Summit in Cambodia saying the meetings of the leaders were “deliberate and very sober” as they discussed issues from inflation to Ukraine and Myanmar.

Ardern also told other leaders that it was time to think about what came next in dealing with Myanmar’s military junta.

Although the leaders’ speeches to the EAS are delivered behind closed doors, Ardern chose to release hers publicly afterward.

In it, she sets out the issues that most concern her – the top of which was Myanmar’s military regime after the 2021 coup, the violence it was using and especially the imposition of death sentences. “They are morally wrong and it is a stain on our region.”

And she said while she supported attempts by the region’s leaders to deal with Myanmar’s regime through ASEAN’s Five Point Consensus plan, the military leadership was not abiding by it. “Given Myanmar’s failure to adhere to the plan, surely we must ask what’s next?”

Ardern said afterwards that the EAS was still committed to that five-point plan, which includes a path back to democracy.

“I think it’s time we asked the question about what more we can do, because there hasn’t, unfortunately, worked to date. … I don’t have the solutions now, but I don’t think it can stand that we continue to send in special envoys, continue to send in leaders and we see no change.”

She said there seemed to be some frustration even among those with closer relationships with Myanmar, and there was consensus among the leaders “in the disappointment and frustration in [Myanmar’s] lack of engagement”.

Asked what the summit had achieved, she said keeping frank discussion flowing was important in itself.

“Nobody comes to the East Asia Summit and suddenly sees peace break out between Ukraine and Russia. Nobody expects you come to this summit and that suddenly Myanmar will be on a path to democracy.”

However, she said hearing there was real consensus on those issues, and open acknowledgment of the tension in the region between the US and China were important to open up diplomatic channels.

In her speech, Ardern said she believed leaders needed to be frank about where they stood on issues if proper dialogue was to be possible.

Her list of concerns included North Korea – three others related to China, although Ardern did not directly name China.

They included the militarisation of the South China Seas, tensions in the Taiwan Strait and “the human rights situation in Xinjiang and the erosion of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong”.

Ardern will possibly have a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping later in the week when she gets to the Apec summit in Thailand.

Ardern said the Indo-Pacific benefited from being a largely stable region, but it had entered “a more challenging global and regional landscape”.

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There was also discussion about the global economy, and Ardern said the impact of inflation was a “shared experience” all leaders were grappling with. They had heard from the International Monetary Fund, and Ardern said ASEAN was well-placed because it was so integrated and engaged in free trade.

“It’s almost acting as a buffer for the region.”

Ardern heads to Vietnam this morning for a three-day visit leading a trade delegation to Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City.