Asean diplomats discussing appointment of crisis envoy, aid to Myanmar

Flags of some of the Asean member countries fly at the Asean Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia. - AP

MANILA (AP): South-East Asia’s top diplomats were meeting Monday (Aug 2) to appoint a special envoy to help deal with the political crisis and violence gripping Myanmar and finalise an emergency plan to help control a coronavirus outbreak that many fear is spiralling out of control in the military-ruled nation.

The foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) were also expected to announce after their video meeting some progress in four years of painstakingly slow negotiations with China to craft a nonaggression pact aimed at preventing conflict in the disputed South China Sea.