[1/5]China’s Premier Li Qiang (L) attends the 26th ASEAN-China Summit during the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, September 6, 2023. Yasuyoshi Chiba/Pool acquires license rights through Portal
- China’s Li warns against taking sides
- Focus on disputes over the South China Sea
- US Vice President emphasizes commitment to Southeast Asia
- ASEAN aims to “strengthen stability” in controversial statement by maritime chairman
JAKARTA, Sept 6 (Portal) – Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Wednesday it was important to avoid a “new Cold War” in managing conflicts between countries as world leaders gathered in Indonesia , as geopolitical rivalries intensified in the Indo-Pacific region.
At an annual summit between members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China, Japan and South Korea, Li said the countries needed to “deal with differences and disputes appropriately.”
“At present, it is very important to oppose partisanship, bloc confrontation and a new Cold War,” Li said at the meeting.
ASEAN, which has warned of the risk of being drawn into disputes between major powers, is also holding broader talks with Li, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and leaders of partner countries such as Japan, South Korea, Australia and India.
Neither US President Joe Biden nor his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are present.
Top of the agenda for meetings in Jakarta is concern over China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the South China Sea, a key trade corridor where several ASEAN members assert claims that conflict with China.
In her remarks at the start of her meeting with ASEAN leaders, Harris said the United States was committed to the region.
“The United States has an enduring commitment to Southeast Asia and, more broadly, the Indo-Pacific,” she said.
Harris also said the United States would continue to press Myanmar’s junta to end the “terrible violence” that has erupted since a military coup in 2021.
A White House official previously said Harris would “underscore the United States and ASEAN’s shared interest in maintaining the rules-based international order, including in the South China Sea, in the face of China’s unlawful maritime claims and provocative actions.”
ASEAN spoke with China this week about accelerating negotiations on a long-discussed code of conduct for the waterway, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said.
The issue also came up during an ASEAN-Japan summit where leaders discussed “the importance of keeping the situation favorable in the region, particularly on the Korean Peninsula and also in the South China Sea,” she said .
NEW CHINESE MAP
The United States and its allies have reiterated ASEAN’s calls for freedom of navigation and overflight and for refraining from establishing a physical presence in disputed waters. China has built various facilities, including airstrips, on tiny rocky outcrops in the sea.
Shortly before this week’s meetings, China released a map with a “10-dash line” that appears to show an expansion of the area in the South China Sea it considers its territory.
Several ASEAN members rejected the map.
Regarding the South China Sea, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said his country does not seek conflict but has a duty to “meet any challenge to our sovereignty.”
“The Philippines strongly rejects misleading narratives that frame the South China Sea disputes solely through the lens of strategic competition between two powerful countries,” Marcos said.
“This not only denies us our independence and our ability to act, but also disregards our own legitimate interests.”
Some ASEAN members have developed close diplomatic, business and military ties with China, while others are more cautious. The United States has also courted ASEAN countries with varying degrees of success.
Earlier this week, the 10 ASEAN members held their summit, where leaders sought to reaffirm the bloc’s relevance amid criticism over its failure to press Myanmar’s military leaders to cooperate on a peace plan.
In a statement on Wednesday, ASEAN chairman Indonesia said the bloc must “strengthen stability in the maritime domain in our region… and explore new initiatives to this end.”
Regional leaders also expressed “grave concern” over the lack of substantive progress on the bloc’s five-point peace plan for Myanmar, the statement said.
At the summit, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol also promised to work with Japan and China to soon resume tripartite talks to build better relations.
Yoon said all military cooperation with North Korea must end. The New York Times reported Monday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un plans to travel to Russia this month to meet President Vladimir Putin and discuss supplying weapons to Moscow for the war in Ukraine.
Reporting by Stanley Widianto, Kate Lamb; Writing by Kanupriya Kapoor; Edited by Robert Birsel and Nick Macfie
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