Southeast Asian foreign ministers are gathering for their first meeting this year under the regional bloc’s new chair, Malaysia, seeking a breakthrough over Myanmar’s drawn-out civil war and territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Singapore’s foreign affairs minister was speaking after the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat in Langkawi on Jan 18 and 19, the first high-level meeting hosted by Malaysia as the bloc’s 2025 chair.

said Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan on Jan 8. But as geopolitical divisions and conflicts rage on, there is also great concern as this multilateral system comes under stress, said Dr ...