China says countries should not have to pick sides in rivalry with US

Foreign Minister Wang Yi tells Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi that the US is a ‘damaging factor’ in international relations

Beijing is facing growing resistance to its claims in the South China Sea and is trying to avoid being isolated

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends a video meeting with his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi on Thursday. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 6:30pm, 31 Jul 2020Updated: 11:13pm, 31 Jul 2020

Countries should not be forced to take sides in the growing rivalry between China and the United States, the Chinese foreign minister has told his Indonesian counterpart.

Wang Yi accused the US of being “the biggest damaging factor in international relations”, and told Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi that the two countries should work together to recover after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Their video meeting, held on Thursday, came amid rising tensions over the South China Sea and followed Washington’s declaration that Beijing’s claims over the strategically important waters are “unlawful”.

Wang accused the US of stirring up ideological opposition and forcing countries to take sides, which he said was “not a normal phenomenon in international relations nor the way it should be in interactions between countries”.

“As the only superpower of the world, the US has … not just abandoned the international responsibilities and obligations it should take but also imposed unilateral sanctions against other countries without any basis in international law,” Wang told Marsudi, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.

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