China warns Asean countries not to be pawns in major power confrontation

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi tells Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi that Southeast Asian nations should cherish their region’s peace and stability

Major powers should not use smaller countries as ‘tools’, Wang says, weeks before planned Asean summit with US President Joe Biden

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Asean members are planning a summit with US President Joe Biden. Photo: Reuters

Published: 6:08pm, 15 Mar 2022Updated: 8:24pm, 15 Mar 2022

Smaller countries should not be used as “tools” in great power confrontations, China’s foreign minister has told Indonesia, urging it to “cherish peace” in the region amid the conflict in Ukraine.

Speaking with his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi by phone on Monday, Wang Yi said that behind the ongoing crisis in Ukraine was the “intensification of long-accumulated conflicts over European security”.

He said talks between the European Union, Nato and Russia were needed to establish “a balanced, effective and sustainable security framework”.

“Under the current situation, we should cherish the peace and stability in East Asia and the Asia-Pacific region,” Wang said, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.

The talks come as Indonesia prepares to host the G20 summit in Bali in October.

Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Tuesday that the G20 summit was not “the appropriate venue” to discuss the Ukraine issue.