By Tang Qifang

January 31, 2016

"US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Laos last week, drawing attention from global media.

The visit came at a special time. On January 22, the Lao People's Revolutionary Party elected its new leadership and mapped out the direction for national development. In terms of diplomacy, Laos is the 2016 chair of the ASEAN and will host the grouping's summit in April, the first such meeting after the ASEAN Economic Community was established. Besides, the US-ASEAN summit will be held at Sunnylands in southern California on February 15-16 and afterward US President Barack Obama will visit Laos and attend the ASEAN summit, the first US president ever to visit the country.

Kerry's trip has explicit political goals. He intended to solicit Laos to act over regional issues such as the South China Sea disputes. He told reporters that Lao leaders wanted to avoid militarization and conflict and wanted maritime rights protected."

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