China’s premier yesterday said that major powers must keep their differences under control and avoid “a new Cold War,” in a thinly veiled reference to Washington, as top Asian and US officials gathered for talks in Indonesia.
Beijing has expressed concern about US-backed blocs forming on its doorstep, while facing disputes with other powers in the region over the South China Sea and other issues.
“Disagreements and disputes may arise between countries due to misperceptions, diverging interests or external interferences,” Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強) said at the start of an ASEAN Plus Three meeting with Japan and South Korea in Jakarta.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“To keep differences under control, what is essential now is to oppose picking sides, to oppose bloc confrontation and to oppose a new Cold War,” he said.
The 10-member ASEAN was holding separate summits with China, Japan, South Korea, the US and Canada, providing an arena for big powers to lobby the bloc and their rivalries to play out.
US Vice President Kamala Harris was attending in place of US President Joe Biden, while Li was taking part instead of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
Yesterday’s meetings precede an 18-member East Asia Summit today to be attended by Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov and the G20 summit in New Delhi at the weekend, where broader geopolitical issues are expected to top the agenda.
Harris met ASEAN leaders, praising them for their “shared commitment to international rules and norms ... and regional issues.”
In a sign of Washington’s increasing regional engagement, she announced the creation of the first US-ASEAN center in Washington.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol are attending both days of meetings.
Yoon reportedly told ASEAN leaders there must be no cooperation with North Korea, which the US said this week is holding arms talks with Russia.
“Any attempts to forge military cooperation with North Korea ... should be immediately stopped,” Yoon was quoted by a presidential official as telling an ASEAN meeting, Yonhap news agency said.
Kishida and Yoon met Li alongside ASEAN leaders, with a row between China and Japan over the release of treated wastewater from the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant one of the topics raised.
“Japan and China talked about Fukushima, but it wasn’t heated,” a Southeast Asian diplomat who was in the room said.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
At least 35 people were killed and dozens more injured when a man plowed his car into pedestrians exercising around a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday night. Footage showing bodies lying on the pavement appeared on social media in the hours after the crash, but had vanished by early Tuesday morning, and local police reported only “injuries.” It took officials nearly 24 hours to reveal that dozens had died — in one of the country’s deadliest incidents in years. China heavily monitors social media platforms, where it is common for words and topics deemed
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
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