ASEAN officials at the meeting did not wear masks: but will it reassure the people of Asia?

China called for solidarity on Thursday in a special meeting to discuss the coronavirus outbreak with Southeast Asian nations as it faces criticism for its handling of the epidemic. The hastily called summit in Laos signaled China is seeking support from smaller neighbors, into which it has poured billions of dollars in infrastructure and investment in recent years.

China’s foreign minister urged Singapore to ease its ban on Chinese visitors and discussed travel and trade restrictions at the meeting with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Thursday. Officials at the meeting on Thursday did not wear masks. Beijing has been criticized for its handling of the outbreak of the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, which emerged from the city of Wuhan in Hubei province in recent months and killed at least 2,000. From Singapore’s outright ban to the open-door practices of Beijing’s close ally Cambodia, policies on travel from China have varied among the 10 ASEAN nations.

Even as the meeting kicked off, Thailand on Thursday issued a travel advisory urging citizens to avoid non-essential travel to China and advised those already there to leave, hinting that flights to China could be further restricted. ASEAN and China, its largest trading partner, have an annual travel flow of over 65 million visits. ASEAN nations collectively are also the second-largest trading partner of China.

China tests its soft power in Southeast Asia amid coronavirus outbreak, Reuters, Feb 20