SOUTH-EAST Asian (Asean) leaders’ annual gathering opened in Singapore today, with host Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong warning that international rules underpinning world stability and economic growth are under threat.

“The international order is at a turning point. The existing free, open and rules-based multilateral system, which has underpinned Asean growth and stability, has come under stress,” Mr Lee told the 10-member bloc.

US President Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign policy and resistance to multilateral agreements and institutions are viewed as a challenge to a region dependent on global trade.