Indo-Pacific strategy outdated Cold War mentality: Chinese FM

Indo-Pacific strategy outdated Cold War mentality: Chinese FM

BEIJING, Oct 28 (APP): Commenting on India and the United States (US) working together to strengthen ties, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin Wednesday said the development of bilateral relations among countries should be conducive to regional peace, stability and development and must not infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of a third party.

“We always hold that bilateral relations between countries should be conducive to regional peace, stability and development and should not undermine the legitimate rights and interests of any third party,”

Wang’s remarks were made during a regular briefing in response to a question on the US Secretary of State Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper high level ministerial meeting with their Indian counterparts in New Delhi.

He said, all visions on regional cooperation should be in line with the trend of the times, which was peace, development and win-win cooperation.

He criticized the “Indo-Pacific strategy” proposed by the US and said it trumpets the outdated Cold-War mindset, confrontation between blocs and geopolitical rivalry.

“We urge certain US politicians to reject the Cold-War and zero-sum game mentality, and stop making moves like hyping up the so-called “China threat”, sowing discord between regional countries, and undercutting regional peace and stability.”

Wang said besides, the China-India boundary issue was between China and India.

The border situation was generally stable at the moment. Both sides had unimpeded channels for communication, and were properly handling matters through consultation and negotiation.

On the US Secretary of State visit to Sri Lanka, he said it was so typical for some US officials to force small and medium sized countries to pick sides, adding,

“I noticed an article written by a Sri Lankan diplomat, saying the country will handle foreign relations according to its constitution, laws and people’s will and doesn’t need any external lecturing on state governance.”

He said China and Sri Lanka were traditionally friendly neighbors and added, “We have been developing bilateral relations based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and conducting friendly cooperation based on equal-footed consultation and mutual benefit, which has substantively improved the well-being of people in Sri Lanka. These are facts that cannot be shaken.”

Wang said the Chinese side would continue working with Sri Lanka to deepen and expand bilateral strategic cooperative partnership, deliver benefits to the two peoples, and contribute to regional peace and stability.

 

APP Services