The summit comes days after China launched ballistic missiles in flashpoint waters as part of live-fire exercises and as Washington and Beijing clash over a range of issues from trade to the coronavirus.
US-China rivalry is set to dominate discussions as the foreign ministers of 10 Southeast Asian countries begin an online summit on Wednesday, September 9, with Washington's top diplomat ready to take aim at Beijing's"bullying" in the South China Sea.
The resource-rich South China Sea is claimed in its entirety by Beijing but is also contested by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. Tensions over the Korean Peninsula will also be high on the agenda. Talks between Pyongyang and Washington on North Korea's nuclear arsenal have been stalled since the collapse of a Hanoi summit between leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump last year.
The"power rivalry" between the US and China will likely steal the limelight, a senior Southeast Asian diplomat told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. Friction between the two powers is already high over trade, blame for the coronavirus pandemic and China's policies in Hong Kong, where Beijing has imposed a draconian national security law.
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