The Philippines will use this week’s ASEAN ministerial meetings to provide a platform for a dialogue with China and other major powers as regional tensions and global conflicts dominate the agenda, an official of the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday.

ASEAN 2026 Philippines spokesperson Dominic Xavier Imperial confirmed that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will attend the series of meetings in Manila, where ASEAN is scheduled to meet with its dialogue partners, including China, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Australia, India, the European Union and others.

Imperial said the ASEAN-China Post-Ministerial Conference would serve as an important venue for ASEAN and Beijing to discuss common interests despite the ongoing regional tensions.

“It is a very good venue not only for the Philippines but for ASEAN to discuss with China the mutual and common interests they want to pursue,” Imperial said.

“With regard to other bilateral issues, we leave it to each country to discuss those with China. But for this week, the important thing is that ASEAN and China have a venue to discuss how they can cooperate and move forward on identified mutual interests,” he said.

Imperial confirmed that Foreign Affairs Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro is expected to meet with Wang on the sidelines of the meetings, although he declined to disclose the agenda.

“I have knowledge that the secretary will have a meeting with the foreign minister of China, but I don’t want to pre-empt what they will discuss,” he said.

He added that the meeting would likely cover both bilateral relations and broader regional developments affecting ASEAN.

The Philippines will host the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting, post-ministerial conferences with ASEAN’s 11 dialogue partners, the ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers Meeting, the ASEAN Regional Forum, the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers Meeting, and activities marking the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation from 20 to 24 July.

Imperial said the meetings come at a critical time as conflicts in the Middle East, Myanmar and other geopolitical flashpoints continue to affect the region.

He said the ASEAN foreign ministers are expected to discuss these issues during several meetings this week, while negotiations will continue on the joint communique to be issued at the conclusion of the ministerial meeting.

“You can expect references to Myanmar, the Thailand-Cambodia border issue, including the Middle East,” Imperial said, noting that the conflicts were also discussed during the ASEAN Summit in May.

The South China Sea and negotiations on the Code of Conduct will likewise remain part of the foreign ministers’ discussions, Imperial confirmed.

Imperial said ASEAN’s priority is to maintain a dialogue despite growing geopolitical uncertainty.

“This venue will be a good mechanism for everyone to sit down and discuss,” he said, adding that sustained engagement among ASEAN and its dialogue partners remains essential to addressing regional and global challenges.