Resources for China-ASEAN Relations: China-Asean Relations, May 2013 to August 2013: Chronology of Events

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 (1) a chronology of events, and (2) important documents.

—the Editors

MAY 2013
30th April–5th	May China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi pays official visits to Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei. Wang’s choice of Southeast Asia as his first overseas destination since his appointment signals Beijing’s renewed desire for closer ties with its neighbours.
2nd	China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh in Jarkata, Indonesia. Wang says China’s new government will continue to encourage ASEAN to develop and grow stronger, firmly support ASEAN in its construction of the ASEAN Community and integration process, and firmly support ASEAN in continuing to play a leading role in regional cooperation.
6th–8th	Senior officials from China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) meet in Yangon, Myanmar to discuss drug control. A ministerial meeting is also held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. Deputy Police Chief Zaw Win is elected as chairman of the Mekong Region’s Transborder Drug Elimination Team.
6th–9th	Chinese Defence Minister Chang Wanquan pays a four-day official visit to Brunei and attends the 7th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM). The purpose of this visit is to further promote China-Brunei defence exchanges and cooperation and to further expand consensus in the security field with ASEAN countries in a bid to jointly maintain regional peace and stability.
9th–14th	China and 15 Asia-Pacific nations start the first round of talks to create one of the world’s largest trading blocs, namely, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The RCEP has been regarded as a rival pact to the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a free trade initiative involving a dozen countries but excluding China.
28th May–3rd June	Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam visits Beijing and Shanghai. He meets China’s Politburo Standing Committee member and Executive Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli and Minister of Finance Lou Jiwei. Tharman also jointly officiates the opening of the Monetary Authority of Singapore Representative Office in Beijing with the People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan.
JUNE 2013
3rd–4th	The China-Southeast Asia High-Level People-to-People Dialogue Conference convenes in Nanning, the capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The conference, themed “Boosting Development through a Peace Deal and Achieving Positive Outcomes through Cooperation”, aims to address issues of common concern in China and Southeast Asia, and push for strengthened cooperation among the countries.
19th–21st	Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang visits China. This is his first-ever visit made as head of state and the first state-level visit by a high-ranking Vietnamese leader to China since its change of leadership. The visit aims to affirm Vietnam’s resolve to reinforce and develop a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership with China, enhance political trust and maintain regular exchanges between the two countries’ high-ranking leaders.
24th	Myanmar President U Thein Sein meets with visiting Chinese state councillor Yang Jiechi in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. Yang stresses that the two countries should continuously expand their common interests and deepen the China-Myanmar Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation Partnership.
30th June–2nd July	At the invitation of Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, Brunei Darussalam’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade and ASEAN’s rotating chair, Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the ASEAN-China (10+1) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the ASEAN-China, Japan, and Republic of Korea (10+3) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the East Asia Summit (EAS) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
JULY 2013
16th	China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying comments on the Philippines’ statement on the South China Sea, saying that China is dissatisfied with the Philippines’ refusal to participate in diplomatic negotiation and the closure...