China’s premier said on Wednesday that 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.”
Qiang also claimed that China has been working with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to “preserve regional stability,” asserting that “mutual trust” between the two parties has “grown deeper.”
Li’s statement, delivered during the ASEAN-China Summit in Jakarta, comes a week after several ASEAN members and other countries condemned Beijing’s 10-dash line map that asserts China’s ownership of almost the entire South China Sea.
“We have been committed to treating each other with sincerity and our political mutual trust has grown deeper,” Li said.
“No matter how the international situation evolves, China and ASEAN have maintained close exchanges and communication, respecting each other’s development path,” he said.
Big power rivalries and regional issues from the South China Sea to North Korean missiles will be on the table at the 43rd ASEAN Summit (see related story — Editors).
The regional bloc will hold separate summits with China, Japan, South Korea, the United States, and Canada, providing an arena for big powers to lobby the bloc.
US Vice President Kamala Harris is attending in place of President Joe Biden, while Qiang is taking part instead of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“We seek common ground while setting aside differences. We both have a relentless pursuit of peace,” Li said in opening remarks at the ASEAN-China summit.
“As long as we keep to the right path, no matter what storm may come, China-ASEAN cooperation will be as firm as ever… against all odds.”
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will also attend.
They will meet with Li at an ASEAN plus three summit where a row between China and Japan over the release of treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear plant could again come to the fore.
Li was scheduled on Wednesday to visit a Beijing-funded high-speed rail project between Jakarta and the Javan city of Bandung, Indonesian officials said.
Myanmar will also be a major issue at the summits with China — a key diplomatic ally of the junta.
China also upset several ASEAN members last week when it released a new official map claiming sovereignty over the majority of the South China Sea.
It sparked sharp rebukes from across the region, including Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
A Southeast Asian diplomat said joint statements from the meetings will “contain references to the South China Sea and Myanmar.”
But to avoid angering Beijing, experts said ASEAN leaders were unlikely to confront Li.
“I predict… the leaders will avoid discussing confrontational issues such as China’s new map,” Aleksius Jemadu, a foreign affairs expert at Indonesia’s Pelita Harapan University, said.
“They won’t risk the relationship with big powers.”
China, which has stressed that issues like those over the South China Sea should be resolved by parties within the region, underscored that “the China-ASEAN cooperation has come a long way” because of their shared “understanding about hardships.”
“We both have a relentless pursuit of opportunities. We both have our strong aspiration for development and we both take real actions to preserve regional stability,” he said.
“We seek common ground while setting aside differences, properly handle disagreements through dialogue and consultation, and consistently deepen practical cooperation in the traditional security fields,” he also said.
“We have preserved peace and tranquility in East Asia, in a world fraught with turbulence and change,” he added.
In August, Chinese ships used water cannons and blocked Philippine resupply vessels that were sailing within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
China also snubbed proceedings in the Hague-based international arbitration court after Manila filed an arbitration case against Beijing in 2013.
Beijing has continued to reject the 2016 ruling on that case and accused the US in July of being the ‘mastermind’ behind the Philippines’ filing.
Meantime, the Chinese Premier also reminded ASEAN leaders of China’s promise to procure $150 billion worth of agricultural products in the next five years.
“To date, over $55 billion worth of these products have been imported faster than expected,” he said.
Li also stressed that China has been ASEAN’s largest trading partner in the last three years, with bilateral trade amounting to $970 billion in 2022.
“We are committed to mutual benefit and that our cooperation has been more productive,” he said.