JAKARTA: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned Monday (July 11) in a political speech in the Indonesian capital that countries should avoid being used as “chess pieces” by major powers in a region he says , risked being reshaped by geopolitical factors.
Speaking to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) secretariat in Jakarta, Wang, who spoke through a translator, said many countries in the region were under pressure to take sides.
“We must protect this region from geopolitical calculations…so that it is not used as a chess piece of great power rivalry and coercion,” he said, adding, “The future of our region should be in our hands”.
Southeast Asia has long been an area of geopolitical friction between major powers given its strategic importance, with countries in the region now fearful of being caught in the middle of the US-China rivalry.
Adding to tensions, China claims nearly all of the South China Sea as its territory based on what it says are historical maps, putting it at odds with some ASEAN countries who claim that the claims are inconsistent with international law.
Wang’s speech comes just days after he attended a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in Bali and amid intense Chinese diplomacy that has seen him make a series of stops in the region in recent weeks.
On the sidelines of the G20, Wang held a five-hour meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, with both calling their first in-person talks since October “frank”.
Wang said on Monday that he told Blinken that the two sides should discuss setting rules for positive interactions and jointly uphold regionalism in the Asia-Pacific.
“The essential elements are to support the centrality of ASEAN, maintain the existing framework of regional societies, respect the legitimate rights and interests of everyone in the Asia-Pacific region instead of seeking to antagonize or contain the other party,” Wang said.
Responding to a question about Taiwan after his speech, Wang said Washington “by distorting and crowding out the one-China policy, is trying to play the Taiwan card to disrupt and contain China’s development.”
Tensions between Beijing and Taipei have escalated in recent months as the Chinese military has carried out repeated aerial missions over the Taiwan Strait, the waterway separating the island from China.
China regards Taiwan as its “sacred” territory and has never renounced the use of force to ensure eventual unification.
Washington says it remains committed to its one-China policy and does not encourage Taiwan independence, but the United States is required to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself under its US Taiwan Relations Act .
“Both sides of the (Taiwan) Strait will experience peaceful development. But when the one-China principle is arbitrarily challenged or even sabotaged, there will be dark clouds or even fierce storms across the strait,” Wang said.