Sawt Falasteen - ASEAN to call for open straits as US-Iran war casts shadow

The draft statement expected to emerge from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gathering in Manila will also repeat calls for self-restraint in a Middle East conflict that has carried economic ripple effects throughout the region.

Visiting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week warned ASEAN envoys that Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz would set a "dangerous precedent".

"There is a fundamental principle about freedom of navigation that is threatened," he said.

The draft communique inserts previously unused language targeting "freedom of navigation in and overflight above straits" while separately calling for "unimpeded" passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

The strait's closure following the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran has left many in the region scrambling to deal with energy shortages and price spikes, with the import-dependent Philippines declaring a national emergency.

But while the communique alludes to energy cooperation among ASEAN states, no progress on previously announced initiatives like a regional energy grid or fuel-sharing scheme has been revealed.

Southeast Asia is itself home to two of the world's busiest shipping routes -- the Strait of Malacca and the Strait of Singapore.

The meetings in Manila kicked off under a cloud on Tuesday after the latest in a series of clashes between China and host country the Philippines took place in the disputed South China Sea.

After being summoned over the incident by President Ferdinand Marcos, however, China's ambassador to Manila told reporters it would have no effect on long-gestating efforts to craft a Code of Conduct for the crucial waterway.

"No matter what happened bilaterally, I think our willingness to finish the (code) talks at the end of this year has not changed," Ambassador Jing Quan said.

On Wednesday, Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan told local media he believed the deal would be completed by November's ASEAN leaders meeting in Manila.

It will not, however, address bilateral issues like China's territorial disputes with the Philippines, Jing insisted, saying it would instead focus on "rules of engagement" for the waterway.

Analysts have long warned any document acceptable to both Beijing and ASEAN's member states would lack teeth.

T.Samara--SF-PST