Region firm on multinationalism
Beijing provides Southeast Asia with vaccines, supplies, advances economic cooperation talks
Indonesian President Joko Widodo met with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Jan 12 with both sides pledging to join hands to firmly uphold multinationalism so as to safeguard international fairness and justice.
During the meeting, Wang said as both major developing countries and emerging economies, the cooperation between China and Indonesia bears strategic importance and global influence.
Both sides have worked actively to dovetail the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Maritime Fulcrum vision with significant progress achieved in bilateral cooperation, strong resilience and great potential demonstrated in fighting the pandemic, Wang noted.
China is willing to work with Indonesia to implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries and press forward the further development of bilateral ties in the post-COVID-19 era based on the joint fight against the virus as well as development and cooperation, he said.
China supports Indonesia in assuming presidency of the G20 in 2022, Wang said, noting that China stands ready to work with Indonesia to jointly adhere to open and inclusive multilateralism, uphold international equity and justice, and push for global governance in the post-COVID-19 era as responsible major developing countries.
Widodo, for his part, said the two
countries have enjoyed sound development of relations, and remarkable achievements have been made in public health cooperation since the outbreak of COVID-19.
Widodo said Indonesia is willing to enhance cooperation with China, expedite synergy between the development strategies of the two countries and actively promote cooperation in key projects such as the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway.
The Indonesian president also
hoped that the two countries will further deepen cooperation in the fields of trade, investment and finance, and strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges. Indonesia is willing to make joint efforts with China to practice multilateralism and promote regional peace and development.
At a joint press conference with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi on Jan 13, Wang said the idea of multilateralism should be earnestly upheld, principles of multilateralism
be maintained, and various kinds of pseudo-multilateralism be resisted.
Wang said that the international community is expecting the incoming US administration to return to multilateralism, and China also welcomes this.
The Chinese state councilor said that genuine multilateralism means adherence to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the basic norms governing international relations, and it also requires respect for sovereignty of all countries as well as equality of all countries, large or small.
Wang noted that upholding genuine multilateralism should adhere to the diversity of the world, respect the legitimate development rights and independent development paths of all countries, and promote the democratization of international relations.
China is against closed-group politics in the name of multilateralism, opposes imposing rules made by a handful of countries to the international community, and resists ideologizing multilateralism to forge value-based alliances targeting specific countries, he said.
Wang stressed that world peace, stability and development could be maintained only by upholding genuine multilateralism. Promoting pseudo-multilateralism will create new differences and trigger new conflicts, and the international community should be alert to this, he said.
Wang has been on a four-nation tour to Myanmar, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines.
During a meeting with Wang on Jan 11, Myanmar State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi thanked China for providing vaccines and hailed China’s success in overcoming the impact of the virus and achieving positive economic growth.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the founding of the China-ASEAN dialogue relationship, and Myanmar will assume the role of country coordinator of China-ASEAN relations this year.