Southeast Asian foreign ministers hold a closed-doors retreat in Malaysia on Sunday, as the country hosts its first meeting as chair of the regional bloc ASEAN amid an intensifying civil war in Myanmar and confrontations in the South China Sea.

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.

Malaysia is committed to addressing regional issues, but expectations on Myanmar and the advancing of talks on a code of conduct between the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and China for the South China Sea should be tempered,

Southeast Asian foreign ministers met 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