Wang Yi before ASEAN: The future of our region must be in our own hands

Jakarta (ST): Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed the need for Southeast Asian countries to stand up to the pressures they are facing and to counter attempts to reshape the region due to certain political factors.

Reuters quoted Wang as saying in his address to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat in Jakarta:  “Many countries in the Southeast Asian region are under pressure for prejudice, and we have to isolate them from geopolitical calculations and from using them as chess pieces due to the rivalry between major powers and coercion. The future of our region must be in our hands.”

On the Taiwan issue and US interference in China’s affairs, Wang told reporters after his speech to ASEAN: “Washington is trying to use Taiwan to disrupt and curb China’s development by distorting and undermining the one-China policy.”

K.Q.