ASEAN asserts global role as internal rifts cloud regional unity
NORMAN GOH and ISMI DAMAYANTI
KUALA LUMPUR -- ASEAN projected its growing global influence last week as ministers from major powers gathered in Kuala Lumpur for the bloc's annual ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), but this stood in stark contrast to the lack of progress in resolving myriad internal issues.
The South China Sea dispute, Myanmar's civil war and Thai-Cambodian border tensions were paid little more than lip service. And there was barely a sign of the bloc forging the much-promised united front to address U.S. President Donald Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs.
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