Indonesia’s Widodo addresses US-China tensions, telling UN ‘war will benefit no one’
- ‘There is no point of celebrating victory among ruins. There is no point of becoming the largest economic power in the midst of a sinking world,’ Widodo said
- Earlier this month, Indonesia’s government protested when a Chinese coastguard vessel entered the portion of the South China Sea it claims
“War will benefit no one. There is no point of celebrating victory among ruins. There is no point of becoming the largest economic power in the midst of a sinking world,” the president said.
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China claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, a position rejected by Washington and some Southeast Asian states, including Indonesia, citing provisions in the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea.
“The principles of the UN. Charter and international law are often neglected, including the respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Widodo told the UN.
“Given the size and military might of the contenders, we can only imagine and be aghast at the terrible toll on human life and property that shall be inflicted if the ‘word war’ deteriorates into a real war of nuclear weapons and missiles,” he told the UN general assembly.
If the US and China go to war, whose side is Southeast Asia on?
“What we see, instead, is one of deep division and growing rivalries,” he said. “If division and rivalries continue to persist, then I am concerned that the pillars of stability and sustainable peace will crumble or even [be] destroyed.”
He said that Indonesia would be a “bridge builder” and advocate for global equality.
