China seeks support from Southeast Asia after US, Britain and Australia unveil new security pact
- A senior foreign ministry official has met ambassadors from the region to discuss the new Aukus alliance, which he denounced as ‘hypocritical and treacherous’
- Many countries in the region are reluctant to pick sides between the two superpowers, but the Philippines and Singapore have welcomed the new grouping
Liu Jinsong, the director general of the foreign ministry’s department of Asian affairs held separate meetings with ambassadors from the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia in Beijing in recent days to discuss the new Aukus alliance, the ministry said on Friday.
During the meetings, Liu denounced Aukus as the work of “racially and geopolitically motivated cliques”.
He told the diplomats: “Some countries have defied world trends and the international consensus by engaging in highly targeted and exclusive ideological and military alliances, adopting double standards and doing whatever they want on issues such as nuclear non-proliferation.
“Such hypocritical and treacherous words and actions not only undermine the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone Treaty but could also spur regional arms races and create tension and division.”
He also took aim at Australia, which he said “had always been looking for friends in the West rather than in the East”.