Indonesian President Joko Widodo called for a de-escalation of tensions in Ukraine during a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Jakarta, warning that a conflict threatens security and would be disruptive to the world’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is not the time for rivalry, nor is it the time to create new tensions that disrupt the world’s recovery, let alone endanger the safety of the world, as is happening in Ukraine today,” he said. “All parties must stop the rivalry and tension, we must focus on synergizing, collaborating to save and resurrect the world to quickly rise and recover.”
The remarks from the leader of Southeast Asia’s largest economy echoed concerns that an invasion of Ukraine would have far-reaching consequences.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Kiev’s Western allies say Russia has massed as many as 150,000 troops on its borders in a possible precursor to an attack and are voicing reservations about announcements from the Kremlin that it is withdrawing some forces.
“All countries are connected to each other, no one is isolated,” Widodo said. “The rise of one region will revive another region; the collapse of one region will also bring down other regions.”
Russia, which annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and supports separatists in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, has said it has no plans to invade.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has made clear that the order had been given only for a “partial” pullback and suggested that a full return to base would depend on how talks with the West go.
Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the situation was “deeply concerning” and it was in the collective interest that these tensions are resolved.
“We call upon Russia to de-escalate the situation for the alternative would be disastrous in human and economic terms,” he told the G20 conference.
The G20 consists of the EU and 19 countries with the biggest industrialized and emerging economies.
Washington, which last week released a strategy for the Indo-Pacific region as a means to counter China’s growing influence, is concerned Beijing would try to take advantage of the tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
“We stand for a world and a vision grounded in problem solving and innovation, not coercion and aggression,” US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink said during a briefing yesterday.
“I think it stands in stark contrast to the vision of others, including that put forward by” Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), he added.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic gas stations are to fall NT$0.2 and NT$0.1 per liter respectively this week, even though international crude oil prices rose last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices continued rising last week, as the US Energy Information Administration reported a larger-than-expected drop in US commercial crude oil inventories, CPC said in a statement. Based on the company’s floating oil price formula, the cost of crude oil rose 2.38 percent last week from a week earlier, it said. News that US President Donald Trump plans a “secondary