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As I see it | China’s constant warning to Asian nations to avoid ‘foreign power interference’ reeks of condescension
- The warnings suggest Beijing thinks countries cannot determine their own national interests over issues like the South China Sea
- China cannot be unaware that its actions have played a major role in regional countries reaching out to foreign powers like the US to ensure their own security
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China needs to refrain from exhorting countries in its neighbourhood to avoid “foreign power interference”, especially when its actions have pushed its neighbours to embrace such “interference” in the first place.
Take two recent examples.
Last Saturday, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi accused “individual external forces” of “sowing discord” within Asean, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, to prevent a consensus over the South China Sea.
Speaking in a video address to a conference organised by the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia, a Jakarta think tank, Wang also warned countries not to allow themselves to become pawns in a great power competition.
Of course, this is not the first time Wang has called on countries to resist being “pawns”, presumably of the United States and its allies.
Wang shared the same message during his visit through the Pacific region last year.
China’s constant reminder to regional countries to avoid “foreign power interference” is condescending as it suggests that nations, especially smaller ones, are unable to determine their own national interests.
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