Southeast Asian countries must avoid being used as “chess pieces” by major powers, said China’s foreign minister Wang Yi, during a policy speech in the Indonesian capital on Monday.
Speaking at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) secretariat in Jakarta, Wang said that many countries in the region were under pressure to take sides in a region at risk of being “reshaped by political factors.”
“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.”