BEIJING: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should stay clear of any power rivalry of big countries, China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Tuesday (Mar 7).
At an annual parliament meeting in Beijing, Qin also said that ASEAN cannot be an agent of any external force.
The foreign minister was responding to a question about how countries in the region are under pressure and finding it increasingly difficult to rely on the US for security guarantees, and on China on the economic front.
He said that the Indo-Pacific strategy by the United States is an attempt to form “exclusive cliques” that hurts the interests of regional countries, adding that any attempt to encircle China is bound to fail.
Qin noted that leaders of a number of regional countries have stated that ASEAN should not be a proxy for any party and should stay clear of big power rivalry.
He said that as a pacesetter for global development, the US should set the stage for win-win cooperation, rather than a chess board for geopolitical contests.
No cold war should be ignited and a crisis like the one in Ukraine should not be repeated in Asia, he added.