Southeast Asian leaders will meet in Laos this week as Myanmar's civil war and mounting tensions in the South China Sea risk corroding the ASEAN grouping's central role in the region. The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has,

The military government of Myanmar will send a senior official to a meeting of Asean leaders, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday, as the junta struggles in its fight against opposition forces.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will represent the United States at the Association of Southeast Nations summits in Laos this week and expects to discuss human rights in Myanmar, China's "irresponsible" behavior in the South China Sea and Ukraine,

For the first time since the junta seized power three years ago, Myanmar will send a Foreign Ministry official to the summit. But that move has drawn criticism from some human rights groups, NGOs and opponents of the junta inside the country,