Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi blasts US for playing 'bloc politics' in the region

BEIJING - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday (March 7) accused the United States of playing "bloc politics" in the Indo-Pacific and of attempting to create a version of the Nato military alliance in the region, adding that these actions were destabilising.

"The real purpose of the 'Indo-Pacific Strategy' is to try to create an Indo-Pacific version of Nato. It maintains the US-led hegemonic system, impacts the Asean-centred regional cooperation structure, and damages overall and long-term interests," said Mr Wang.

Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of China's annual legislative meetings or lianghui, Mr Wang took aim at the Biden administration's recently released Indo-Pacific Strategy under which Washington said it would form stronger partnerships with like-minded nations with the aim of embedding the US more deeply in the region.

Confrontation and rivalry between the US and China has intensified since the Biden administration took power last year.

US President Joe Biden has been rallying international coalitions to counter China's growing influence - including the "Five Eyes" intelligence alliance (comprising the US, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada) and the Quad nations (made up of India, Australia, Japan and the US).

Last year, it also formed Aukus, a trilateral security pact with Australia and Britain, under which nuclear submarine technology will be shared with Canberra.

Most recently, the US had spearheaded a diplomatic boycott of China's Winter Olympics, over what it said are human rights violations in the country.

Mr Wang said the US claimed that it was working for the return of multilateralism and the maintenance of international rules. The Chinese Foreign Minister dismissed this, charging that Washington was actually setting up its own "exclusive clubs" and with their own "gang rules".

"What they are bringing is by no means the gospel, but disaster that disrupts regional peace and stability," he said.

China, on the other hand, was willing to work with all parties "to boycott confrontational cliques in the Indo-Pacific, and build a big stage for cooperation", he said.

He also said in response to a separate question that the US was also using the situation on the Korean peninsula as a "geostrategic bargaining chip", and that the root cause of tensions there was that North Korea's security concerns remained unaddressed.

Asked if US-China relations would deteriorate given the bipartisan consensus against China in Washington, Mr Wang in response accused the US of "provoking trouble" on issues concerning China's core interests.

"As a sovereign and independent country, China has every right to take necessary measures to firmly defend its legitimate interests," said Mr Wang.

Last week, Mr Biden sent a delegation of retired senior US defence officials to Taiwan in a show of support towards the island, which Beijing regards as a renegade province.