U.S. President Joe Biden joined Southeast Asian leaders in rebuking Myanmar's junta on Tuesday, as a regional summit opened without a representative from the country following its top general's exclusion for ignoring peace proposals.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had said it would accept a nonpolitical figure from Myanmar at the virtual meeting, but the junta rejected that, saying it would only agree to its leader or a minister attending.
In an unprecedented snub to the leader of a member state, ASEAN had decided to sideline junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, who led a Feb. 1 coup that spiraled into violence and chaos, for his failure to cease hostilities, allow humanitarian access and start dialogue, as agreed with ASEAN.