China urges Asean nations to avoid being used as 'chess pieces' by big powers

JAKARTA • Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned yesterday in a policy speech that countries should avoid being used as "chess pieces" by major powers in a region that he said was at risk of being reshaped by geopolitical factors.

Addressing the Asean Secretariat in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, Mr Wang, speaking through a translator, said many that countries in the region were under pressure to take sides.

"We should insulate this region from geopolitical calculations… from being used as chess pieces from major power rivalry and from coercion," he said.

"The future of our region should be in our own hands."

South-east Asia has long been an area of geopolitical friction between major powers, given its strategic importance, with countries in the region now wary of being caught in the middle of US-China rivalry.

Heightening tensions, China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its territory based on what it says are historical maps, putting it at odds with some Asean countries that say the claims are inconsistent with international law.

Mr Wang's speech comes amid intense Chinese diplomacy that has seen him make a string of stops across the region in recent weeks.

On the sidelines of a Group of 20 foreign ministers' meeting on the Indonesian island of Bali last week, Mr Wang held a five-hour meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Both sides later portrayed their first in-person talks since last October as an attempt to improve ties to prevent bilateral tensions from spiralling out of control, and described the talks as "candid".

Mr Wang said yesterday he told Mr Blinken that both sides should discuss setting up rules for positive interactions and to jointly uphold regionalism in the Asia-Pacific.

"The core elements are to support Asean centrality, uphold the existing regional corporation framework, respect each other's legitimate rights and interests in the Asia-Pacific instead of aiming to antagonise or contain the other side," he said.

The Chinese minister also called on Asean countries to oppose "fake regional cooperation that keeps certain countries out" - a reference to US-led security and trade blocs that China is not a part of.

Responding to a question about Taiwan after his speech, Mr Wang said Washington, "by distorting and hollowing 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 conducted repeated air missions over the Taiwan Strait, the waterway separating the island from China.

China regards self-ruled Taiwan as a renegade province awaiting reunification with the mainland, by force if necessary. Taiwan says that it will defend its freedoms and democracy, blaming China for the tensions.

Washington says it remains committed to its "one China" policy and does not encourage independence for Taiwan, but the United States is required to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself under its US Taiwan Relations Act.

Mr Wang said: "The two sides across the (Taiwan) Strait will enjoy peaceful development. But when the 'one China' principle is arbitrarily challenged or even sabotaged, there will be dark clouds or even ferocious storms across the strait."

The top Chinese and US diplomats are expected to prepare for virtual talks in the coming weeks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden as both countries step up engagement and moderate their rhetoric.

After a long chill between the two countries during the pandemic, their defence, finance and national security chiefs have all spoken since last month.

REUTERS