US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to raise the two topics in Laos this week, highlighting China’s actions in each.

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.

Leaders of the 10-member bloc gather in Laos to address regional tensions that threaten the group’s unity, relevance.

Myanmar will send a representative to a regional summit this week for the first time in three years, a diplomatic source told AFP Tuesday, as the ruling junta struggles to quell a civil war. The conflict will be high on the agenda as leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) meet in Laos from Wednesday,

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will represent the United States at summits with Asian leaders 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,