US Vice-President Kamala Harris is welcomed by Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo and First Lady Iriana Widodo for the gala dinner of the 43rd Asean summit in Jakarta yesterday.
China’s premier yesterday said major powers must keep their differences under control and avoid “a new Cold War”, in a thinly veiled reference to Washington, as top Asian and US officials gathered for talks in Indonesia.
Beijing has expressed concern about US-backed blocs forming on its doorstep, while facing disputes with other powers in the region over the South China Sea and other issues.
“Disagreements and disputes may arise between countries due to misperceptions, diverging interests or external interferences,” Li Qiang said at the start of an Asean-plus-three meeting with Japan and South Korea in Jakarta.
“To keep differences under control, what is essential now is to oppose picking sides, to oppose bloc confrontation and to oppose a new Cold War.”
The 10-member Association of Southeast Asia Nations (Asean) was holding separate summits with China, Japan, South Korea, the US and Canada yesterday, providing an arena for big powers to lobby the bloc and their rivalries to play out.
US Vice-President Kamala Harris is attending in place of President Joe Biden, while Li was taking part instead of President Xi Jinping.
The Chinese premier’s comments came after Beijing’s Defence Minister Li Shangfu in June warned against establishing Nato-like alliances in the Asia-Pacific region, calling for “inclusive co-operation” instead of “small cliques” at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
Washington is a member of the Aukus defence partnership with Australia and Britain, and the Quad, a strategic alliance that includes Australia, India and Japan.
Yesterday’s meetings come before an 18-member East Asia Summit today to be attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the G20 summit in New Delhi at the weekend, where broader geopolitical issues are expected to top the agenda.
