Leaders of Southeast Asian nations are "meeting" today, online, to discuss regional problems, The Guardian reports.
Vietnam's leader warned that the coronavirus pandemic has wiped out years of economic progress in the region and that the virus' impact will certainly be long-lasting.
The leaders of Vietnam and the Philippines registered their concerns that China is enhancing its presence in the disputed South China Sea. Both leaders lodged protests in April with the Chinese government, after it unilaterally declared the establishment of new administrative districts on islands which Vietnam and the Philippines also claim.
"Even as our region struggles to contain COVID-19, alarming incidents in the South China Sea occurred," Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told the online meeting of Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders today.