‘SE Asia should avoid being chess pieces’

Southeast Asian nations should avoid becoming “chess pieces”, China’s Foreign Minister said on Monday.

Wang Yi held five hours of talks on Saturday with U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken — their first since October — on the Indonesian island of Bali, after the pair attended a Group of 20 gathering the day before.

“We should insulate this region [ASEAN] from geopolitical calculations and the trap of the law of the jungle, from being used as chess pieces in major power rivalries,” Mr. Wang said.

“I told the U.S. side very solemnly, that our two sides should consider discuss the establishment of rules for positive interactions in the Asia Pacific and to uphold jointly open regionalism,” the Foreign Minister said.