Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Southeast Asia Brief.

The highlights this week: The ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting takes place amid geopolitical turmoil, concerns about the governance of Indonesia’s president intensify, and we look at what’s new in Trump’s latest round of tariffs.

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Southeast Asia Brief.

The highlights this week: The ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting takes place amid geopolitical turmoil, concerns about the governance of Indonesia’s president intensify, and we look at what’s new in Trump’s latest round of tariffs.

ASEAN Summit Dominated by Middle East

Last week’s meeting of the foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Manila took place against a backdrop of continued turmoil.

The South China Sea and the war in the Middle East overshadowed proceedings as both China and the United States continued their track record of shooting themselves in the foot.

On July 20, a clash at the Second Thomas Shoal between China’s coast guard and Philippine navy left a Filipino sailor injured. The Philippines alleges that he was struck on the head with a wooden baton. China alleges that the Filipinos struck first and were trying to ram the Chinese boat.

When Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi landed in Manila on Wednesday, he and Philippine Foreign Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro exchanged diplomatic protests over the matter. Lazaro also protested a video released earlier this month by Chinese media that depicted the Philippines as a monkey.

Despite this acrimony, the summit’s joint communiqué struck an optimistic note on efforts to finally conclude a code of conduct (COC) for the South China Sea. The ministers wrote that they “looked forward to continued efforts” to “conclude the negotiation of an effective and substantive COC” within the year.

Then Thursday and Friday saw incidents at the Scarborough Shoal, where the Philippines accused China of firing a water cannon at Philippine fisheries boats.

Following the first incident, the United States released a statement condemning “China’s dangerous and aggressive actions.” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Wang on the sidelines of the summit. Afterward, he told reporters he had reiterated the U.S. commitment to its alliance with the Philippines.

In a call on Thursday between U.S. President Donald Trump and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the former assured the latter that he would raise the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping when they next met.

In an op-ed in Philippine media, Rubio also warned of “dire new threats” if the waters of the South China Sea “fall under the control of a power willing to use commerce as a geopolitical weapon.” He also pitched the United States as a technological partner, saying the region was a “central focus” of the “American........

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