Alarm over Myanmar, sea feud under ASEAN summit spotlight

By JIM GOMEZ and EDNA TARIGAN
Associated Press

LABUAN BAJO, Indonesia (AP) — Alarm over Myanmar’s deadly civil strife and China’s aggressive actions in the disputed South China Sea will be under the spotlight this week when Southeast Asian leaders meet in Indonesia. They face growing criticisms of their inability to ease the crises. Top diplomats of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are convening Tuesday in the resort town of Labuan Bajo to finalize the agenda ahead of the two-day summit of the 10-nation bloc’s heads of state. The United States and China are not part of the summit but their escalating rivalry will loom large over the Asian gathering. Beijing has warned that U.S. efforts to strengthen an arc of security alliances and intensify combat-readiness drills with allies to better counter China will endanger regional stability.