Asia must not become arena for ‘big power contest’, says Xi Jinping
Bangkok: The Asia-Pacific is no one’s back yard and should not become an arena of big power rivalry, China’s president, Xi Jinping, has said, warning against cold war tensions in a region that is a flashpoint of competition between Beijing and Washington.
Xi’s remarks on Thursday came ahead of Friday’s AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Bangkok, and were an apparent reference to US efforts with regional allies and partners to blunt what they see as China’s growing coercive economic and military influence in the region.
“No attempt to wage a new cold war will ever be allowed by the people or by our times,” Xi said in written remarks prepared for a business event linked to the summit.
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“We should follow a path of openness and inclusiveness,” he said in the speech, which was provided by organisers, adding the region should not turn into “an arena for big power contest”.
“Unilateralism and protectionism should be rejected by all; any attempt to politicise and weaponise economic and trade relations should also be rejected by all,” he said.
Relations between the world’s two largest economies have grown strained in recent years over issues including tariffs, Taiwan, intellectual property theft, the removal of Hong Kong’s autonomy and territorial disputes over the South China Sea, among others.
In a move that may be seen by Beijing as a rebuke, a senior administration official said the US vice-president, Kamala Harris, will on Tuesday visit the Philippine islands of Palawan on the edge of the disputed South China Sea.
The trip will make Harris the highest-ranking US official to visit the island chain adjacent to the Spratly Islands. China has dredged the sea floor to build harbours and airstrips on the Spratlys, parts of which are also claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Xi told Philippine counterpart Ferdinand Marcos Jr at a meeting in Bangkok that the strength of bilateral ties hinged on stable relations at sea, China’s CCTV state broadcaster said, referring to disputes over areas of the South China Sea.
Harris will visit Palawan after attending the Apec meeting, which follows a series of regional summits so far dominated by geopolitical tension over the war in Ukraine.