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Resources for China–ASEAN RelationsChronology of Events: July 2022 to September 2022
As a research institute based in Singapore, the EAI monitors developments in relations and interactions between China and the individual countries of Southeast Asia as well as the ASEAN grouping as a whole. This material is presented in the form of (i) a chronology of events and (ii) a list of important documents.
—the Editors
CHINA–ASEAN RELATIONS JULY 2022 TO SEPTEMBER 2022: CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS
JULY 2022
| 1st | Lao Deputy Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone launches a new freight transit yard for the China–Laos Railway at Vientiane South Station. The completion of the station marks the connection of the railways of China, Laos and Thailand, which is expected to improve the efficiency of freight transport between China and ASEAN. The China–Laos Railway is seen as a landmark high-quality joint project under the Belt and Road Initiative. |
| 3rd | China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian announces that Foreign Minister Wang Yi will pay an official visit to Myanmar, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia from 3 to 14 July. |
| 4th | The Seventh Lancang–Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Foreign Ministers' Meeting convenes in Bagan, Myanmar. Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Myanmar's Foreign Minister U Wunna Maung Lwin co-chair the meeting. Both sides issue a joint press communiqué and four joint statements on enhancing customs–trade security and clearance facilitation, enhancing agricultural cooperation and guarantees of food safety, disaster management cooperation, and cultural exchanges and mutual learning between civilisations. |
| 7th–8th | Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the G20 (Group of 20) Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in Bali, Indonesia. The meeting, themed "Building a More Peaceful, Stable, and Prosperous World Together", acts as a strategic forum to discuss global recovery efforts. The first session, on strengthening multilateralism, explores joint actions to strengthen global collaboration and foster mutual trust among countries, creating an enabling environment that will support world stability, peace and development. The second session, on the food and energy crises, discusses strategic actions to combat food insecurity, fertiliser shortages and rising global commodity prices. |
| 9th | Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi co-chairs the second meeting of the China–Indonesia High-level Dialogue Cooperation Mechanism with Indonesia's Coordinator for Cooperation with China and Coordinating Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan on Bali. Both sides speak highly of the progress made in development-financing cooperation and will conduct more financing cooperation on conventional infrastructure and new infrastructure projects in a multifaceted manner. |
| 11th | Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivers a policy speech on open regionalism at the ASEAN Secretariat, speaking highly of the achievements in China–ASEAN cooperation and of upholding the concept of peaceful coexistence and open regionalism with ASEAN. |
| 14th | Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong co-chair the sixth meeting of the China–Cambodia Intergovernmental Coordination Committee, held via video link. Both sides take stock of the implementation of the consensus reached at the fifth meeting and express their satisfaction with the fruitful outcomes of solidarity and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries. Both sides also make plans for cooperation in the next stage. They jointly announce the signing of cooperation documents on human resources and infrastructure. |
| 25th | At the invitation of China, Indonesian President Joko Widodo makes a state visit to China. Joko is the first foreign head of state to visit China since the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. |
AUGUST 2022
| 3rd | At the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting held in Phnom Penh, ASEAN spokesman Kung Phoak, who is also Cambodia's deputy foreign minister, says ministers at the closed-door talks—meeting face to face for the first time since the pandemic—have expressed concern over "growing tension in the Taiwan Strait". US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to the island on 3 August has prompted an enraged China to vow "punishment". Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi slams the trip by Pelosi as a violation of Chinese sovereignty. |
| 4th | Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi jointly chairs the ASEAN–China (10+1) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Phnom Penh. Wang reiterates China's willingness to work with ASEAN to promote jointly peace, safety, security and prosperity, implement the important consensus reached by the leaders, deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership and build a tightly-knit community with a shared future. Wang proposes the establishment of a China–ASEAN year of cooperation on agricultural development and food security, as well as the issuance of a joint statement on food security cooperation at the China–ASEAN leaders' meeting. The meeting also approves an action plan for the China–ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership, which will be submitted to the China–ASEAN Summit for ratification. |
| 14th | The Chinese and Thai air forces hold a joint training exercise, codenamed "Falcon Strike 2022", at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand. This, the fifth joint training exercise, is aimed at enhancing mutual trust and friendship between the air forces of the two countries, and deepening bilateral cooperation to safeguard regional security and stability. For the training exercise, the Chinese side dispatches fighter jets, fighter-bombers and airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft, while the Thai side sends its fighter jets and AEW aircraft. The exercise includes training courses such as air support, strikes on ground targets, and small- and large-scale troop deployment. |
SEPTEMBER 2022
| 14th–16th | The Fourth China–ASEAN Forum on Health Cooperation convenes in Nanning, the capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The objectives of the forum are to deepen exchanges and cooperation in various fields of health between China and ASEAN countries in the post-COVID-19 era and to strengthen health system resilience. China promises to donate an additional 150 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to ASEAN countries to support higher vaccination rates and to contribute an additional US$5 million to the COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund. China will also step up joint vaccine production and technology transfer, and collaborate on the research and development of essential medicines, in order to help ASEAN increase its self-reliance. |
| 16th–19th | The 19th China–ASEAN Expo and China–ASEAN Business and Investment Summit are held in Nanning, with a record number of deals made. A total of 267 domestic and international deals are signed, with an investment of over 400 billion yuan (US$57 billion), an increase of 37 per cent over 2021. Eighty-eight online and offline economic and trade events are organised in areas including new high-end metal materials, health, tourism and culture, new green chemical materials, and mechanical equipment manufacturing. |
| 17th | Cambodian Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak and Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Algernon Yau co-chair the Sixth ASEAN Economic Ministers–Hong Kong, China Consultation in Siem Reap, Cambodia to discuss issues relating to the implementation of the free trade agreement and the investment agreement between Hong Kong and ASEAN. The meeting also witnesses the launch of the Business Guidebook to Increasing the Trade Competitiveness Using the AHKFTA, which could be a useful tool for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in reaping the full benefits of the agreement. |
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Ryan Ho
Ryan Ho (eaihrq@nus.edu.sg) is a Research Assistant at the East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore, and holds a Masters in Science in Asian Studies from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. His research interests include cross-strait relations, religion and ethnicity in China, and modern Chinese history.
