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China warns Asian nations to avoid being used as 'chess pieces' by big powers

11 July 2022 10:33 (UTC +04:00)

China's foreign minister Wang Yi warned on Monday during a policy speech in the Indonesian capital that countries should avoid being used as "chess pieces" by major powers in a region at risk of being reshaped by geopolitical factors, APA reports citing Reuters.

Speaking at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) secretariat in Jakarta, Wang, who was speaking through a translator, said many countries in the region were under pressure to take sides.

"We should insulate this region from geopolitical calculations… from being used as chess pieces from major power rivalry and from coercion," he said, adding: "The future of our region should be in our own hands."

Southeast Asia has long been an area of geopolitical friction between major powers given its strategic importance, with some countries in the region wary of choosing sides in the current U.S-China rivalry.

Wang's speech comes just days after he attended a G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Bali and amid intense Chinese diplomacy that has seen him make string of stops across the region in recent weeks.

On the sidelines of the G20, Wang held a five-hour meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken with both describing their first in-person talks since October as "candid".