Southeast Asian leaders prove to be perfect summit hosts

Deft leadership calmed international tensions, especially between U.S. and China

Michael Vatikiotis

November 22, 2022 17:00 JST

Indonesian officials wrestled until the eleventh hour at the G-20 summit in Bali with rancorous officials from Europe, Canada and the U.S. who were intent on a furious condemnation of Russia's war in Ukraine. © AP

Michael Vatikiotis is senior adviser at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue and author of "Lives Between The Lines: A Journey in Search of the Lost Levant."

In a world that until recently had been locked down and masked up, the cavalcade of presidents and prime ministers that mingled unmasked in Southeast Asia was quite a sight.