HANOI : Southeast Asia’s top diplomats were holding their annual talks by video Wednesday to discuss the immense crisis wrought by the coronavirus pandemic and rising tensions in the South China Sea amid the escalating rivalry between Washington and Beijing.The Association of Southeast Asian Nations ministerial meetings, delayed by a month, were being held online due to continuing health risks posed by COVID-19.
The 10-nation bloc’s foreign ministers are to meet Asian and Western counterparts, including those from the U.S. and China, for talks later in the week, capped by an annual security forum.Vietnam is hosting the talks as this year’s chairman of the diverse group.