Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)—minus a representative from military-occupied Myanmar—met this week for an annual retreat in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. While Myanmar’s absence drew much international attention, bloc leaders were also concerned with developing a coordinated economic response to ongoing trade and travel barriers, as Southeast Asia’s largest market, China, continues to remain largely closed.
China’s strict coronavirus policy has left land borders tightly sealed and caused huge backlogs at ports. Southeast Asian traders, farmers, and business owners are struggling to get their goods into the region’s largest market—with no sign of a return to normal on the horizon.
Southeast Asian countries, particularly Thailand, are important suppliers of raw goods, such as rubber and electrical parts, which are vital to China’s…
