Chinese prez warns against ‘Cold War’ in Asia-Pacific region

Chinese President Xi Jinping warned against a return to Cold War-era divisions in the Asia-Pacific on Thursday as tensions mounted over the security of Taiwan. In the run-up to an anticipated virtual summit with US President Joe Biden as early as next week, Xi said countries in the region must work together on common challenges from the Covid-19 pandemic to trade. The summit between the US and Chinese presidents is tentatively scheduled for Monday, Politico reported “Attempts to draw ideological lines or form small circles on geopolitical grounds are bound to fail,” Xi told a virtual business conference on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit hosted by New Zealand. “The Asia-Pacific region cannot and should not relapse into the confrontation and division of the Cold War era.” Xi’s call came hours after China and the United States announced a surprise pact to accelerate climate action at a summit in Glasgow where countries are trying to agree on measures to curb the warming of the Earth. Xi did not mention the US deal directly but said “all of us can embark on a path of green, low-carbon sustainable development”. “Together, we can usher in a future of green development,” he said. But while the Biden administration has identified climate as a key area for potential cooperation with China, tensions have soared over their rival security strategies in the Asia-Pacific region, notably Taiwan. Beijing has ramped up military activities near Taiwan, a self-ruling democracy claimed by China, with a record number of planes intruding into the island’s air defence identification zone in early October. Secretary of state Blinken on Wednesday underscored Washington’s military support for Taiwan. “We will make sure that Taiwan has the means to defend itself because the purpose here is never to get to that point where anyone is actually trying to disrupt the status quo by force,” he told an event hosted by The New York Times.