Indonesian President Joko Widodo warned Friday that the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) can’t become a “proxy” for any country as tensions between the US and China are soaring in the region.
“ASEAN cannot be a competition, it can’t be a proxy of any country, and international law should be respected consistently,” Widodo said at a summit of ASEAN foreign minister in Jakarta.
The summit was attended by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and Wang Yi, the head of China’s Communist Party’s Central Commission for Foreign Affairs.
“We in ASEAN are committed to strengthening the unity and solidity as well as centrality in ASEAN to guard the peace and stability in the region,” Widodo added.
The ASEAN is a 10-member bloc and includes Indonesia, Brunei, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Thailand. The US has been looking to build ties with the ASEAN members, but most are not eager to take the US’s side against China.
Ahead of Blinken’s visit to Jakarta, a State Department official said the US wanted to work with ASEAN countries to “push back” against China in the region, specifically in the South China Sea. The US is increasing its military presence in the region by securing a deal with the Philippines to establish four new bases in the country.
Blinken held talks with Wang on the sidelines of the summit, a meeting the State Department said was “part of ongoing efforts to maintain open channels of communication to clarify US interests across a wide range of issues and to responsibly manage competition by reducing the risk of misperception and miscalculation.” The US has framed high-level engagement with China as a way to “manage competition” rather than resolve outstanding issues.
ASEAN is not another NATO which follows the US like sheep. President Joko Widodo said the right thing by not letting the members be in the middle of the tension between the US & China. Biden is adding more fuel to the fire & is skating on thin ice.
Thankfully, ASEAN is nothing like NATO. It actually is a great example of international diplomacy providing peace, stability, and development to a region without arming their members to the teeth.
Don`t be surprised when one or more ASEAN countries have a COUP or CIVIL WAR courtesy of the CIA it`s what the yanks do best when they can`t get what they want.
“Indonesia Warns Southeast Asian Nations ‘Can’t Be a Proxy’ for Any Country-The US wants to work with ASEAN nations against China”
America the evil empire ruled by a senile doddering fool.
Any country that doing good business for it`s country and people with China should avoid the Americans like the plague , what the yanks are after is a NATO type set up to surround and contain China working some kind of article 5 into any treaties they can con the ASEAN countries into . America is a war nation have been for 400 years starting with the first nations and the latest one Ukraine proxy war with Russia , The NATO LACKEYS are walking into ARMAGEDDON following the Americans and will take us all with them , time to disband NATO it has no purpose other than war mongering .
China is doing what the US would not do by aiding in enriching these countries exports and imports, while supporting both politically and economically building these countries. Japan is the only other country to have done so.