The Sixth East Asia Summit was held in Bali,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

on November 18–19, 2011. The

East Asia Summit The East Asia Summit (EAS) is a regional forum held annually by leaders of, initially, 16 countries in the East Asian, Southeast Asian, South Asian and Oceanian regions, based on the ASEAN Plus Six mechanism. Membership expanded to 18 countrie ...

is a nominally annual meeting of national leaders from the East Asian region and adjoining countries.

Attending delegations

The

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and

heads of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a ...

of the eighteen countries participated in the summit: File:Julia Gillard 2010.jpg, Julia Gillard

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

File:Hassanal Bolkiah.jpg, Hassanal Bolkiah
Sultan &

File:Hun Sen (2016) cropped.jpg,

Hun Sen Hun Sen (; km, ហ៊ុន សែន, ; born 5 August 1952) is a Cambodian politician and former military commander who has served as the prime minister of Cambodia since 1985. He is the longest-serving head of government of Cambodia, and ...

File:Wen Jiabao (Cropped).jpg,

Wen Jiabao Wen Jiabao (born 15 September 1942) is a retired Chinese politician who served as the Premier of the State Council from 2003 to 2013. In his capacity as head of government, Wen was regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic polic ...

Premier File:Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in WEF ,2009.jpg, Manmohan Singh

File:20041120-6 bushindonesiamtg1-515h cropped.jpg, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

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(Chairperson) File:Yoshihiko Noda-3.jpg,

Yoshihiko Noda is a Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan from 2011 to 2012. He was a member of the Democratic Party, and a member of the House of Representatives (lower house) in the Diet (national legislature). He was named to succeed Naoto ...

File:Thongsing Thammavong 2009-12-9.jpg,

Thongsing Thammavong Thongsing Thammavong ( Lao: ທອງສິງ ທຳມະວົງ; born 12 April 1944) is a Laotian politician who was the Prime Minister of Laos from 2010 to 2016. He is a member of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) and has been a ...

File:Dato Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak 140x190.jpg,

Najib Tun Razak Dato' Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak ( ms, محمد نجيب بن عبد الرزاق, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset, ; born 23 July 1953) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 6th prime minister of Malays ...

File:TheinSeinASEAN.jpg,

Thein Sein Thein Sein ( my, သိန်းစိန်; IPA: ; born 20 April 1944) is a Burmese politician and retired general in the Myanmar Army who served as the eighth President of Myanmar from 2011 to 2016. He previously served as Prime Minister ...

File:Murray McCully Estonia 2010 (cropped).jpg,

Murray McCully Murray Stuart McCully (born 19 February 1953) is a former New Zealand politician. He is a member of the National Party, and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2008 to 2017. Early life Born in Whangārei, McCully was educated at Ar ...

Foreign Minister File:President Benigno S. Aquino III.jpg,

Benigno Aquino III Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III (; February 8, 1960 – June 24, 2021), also known as Noynoy Aquino and colloquially as PNoy, was a Filipino politician who served as the 15th president of the Philippines from 2010 to 2016. The son of ...

File:Sergey Lavrov 17.03.2010.jpeg,

Sergey Lavrov Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (russian: Сергей Викторович Лавров, ; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian diplomat and politician who has served as the Foreign Minister of Russia since 2004. Lavrov served as the Permanent Represe ...

Foreign Minister File:LeeHsienLoongViet.jpg,

Lee Hsien Loong Lee Hsien Loong (; born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician and former brigadier-general who has been serving as Prime Minister of Singapore and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party since 2004. He has been the Member of Par ...

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Lee Myung bak Lee Myung-bak (; ; ; born 19 December 1941) is a South Korean businessman and politician who served as the 10th president of South Korea from 2008 to 2013. Before his presidency, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction, and the ma ...

File:9139ri-Yingluck Shinawatra.jpg,

Yingluck Shinawatra Yingluck Shinawatra ( th, ยิ่งลักษณ์ ชินวัตร, , ; ; born 21 June 1967), nicknamed Pou ( th, ปู, , , meaning "crab"), is a Thai businesswoman, politician and a member of the Pheu Thai Party who became the P ...

File:Official portrait of Barack Obama.jpg,

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

Agenda

US refocus

US President Obama made his inaugural visit to the Sixth East Asia Summit underlining the United States returned focus on the Asia Pacific region despite congressional budgetary constraints and cutbacks. This included expanded military presence in northern Australia which has neighbouring countries like Indonesia and China wary. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will make the first official US trip to Myanmar (Burma) in more than 50 years.

US military training in northern Australia

Australian Prime Minister Gillard held discussions with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono about United States military training hub in Darwin was not targeted any particular country and was there to help with disaster recovery and strengthen longstanding defence ties with the United States through

ANZUS The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS or ANZUS Treaty) is a 1951 non-binding collective security agreement between Australia and New Zealand and, separately, Australia and the United States, to co-operate on militar ...

which is over 60 years old. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also relayed to Australian Prime Minister Gillard, the defence exercises should involve ASEAN countries and also China to reduce tension and build trust. The Australian Prime Minister has also held talks with Chinese Premier Wen to reduce concerns about the defence arrangement. She reiterated Australia always will have an ally in Washington and a friend in Beijing.

Regional maritime dispute

The United States has stated it supported multilateral talks on a regional basis to ensure disputes in the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phi ...

is resolved peacefully even though it is not a party to any territorial dispute and claims to be not taking any sides. China reinforced its view the maritime dispute should be resolved bilaterally with all the countries involved rather than involving external forces which they see as interference and added layer of complexity. China sees the United States bringing the territorial dispute in the summit as a containment policy to counter China's growing economic and political influence within the region. China has continued to emphasize its peaceful rise and endeavors to work with neighbouring countries to reach agreements on maritime disputes. The concerns of smaller countries about the growing influence of its northern neighbour has allowed the United States to become more involved in the region and coincide with some of their interests to counterbalance China. This also has the effect of countries having stronger individual voices to negotiate with China.

Myanmar

President Obama has said he is dispatching Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Myanmar in the next few weeks to engage in dialogue about better ties with the United States. The Burmese government is civilian run since March 2011. The United States stressed China was advised of the visit and not replacing Myanmar's strong ties with China. They also stated China would want to see a stable Myanmar adjacent to its border and reduce risk such as political instability and refugees. China is a longstanding supporter of resource rich Myanmar and has provided financial and investment support. The Burmese government has reacted they will continue on the path of opening up through relaxing political restrictions and releasing political prisoners. Myanmar has been chosen as host of the ASEAN summit to be held in 2014 despite concerns from human rights groups the reforms are not enough. Other countries have stated granting the chairing of the ASEAN conference will encourage the Myanmar civilian government to continue the pace of change in the country which has been economically and politically isolated by embargo and restrictions.

Outcome

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev did not attend and was represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key also did not attend and was represented by Foreign Minister Murray McCully. The other members' leaders attended.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:East Asia Summit 06 2011 conferences 2011 in international relations 21st-century diplomatic conferences ASEAN meetings 2011 in Indonesia Diplomatic conferences in Indonesia History of Bali November 2011 events in Asia