China warns of Ukraine-style ‘tragedy’ for Asia in US Indo-Pacific plan
- In a phone call with his Vietnamese counterpart, the Chinese foreign minister warns Washington’s strategy is damaging to regional peace
- Bui Thanh Son says his country’s stance on the Ukraine issue shares many similarities with Beijing and welcomed further talks
In a phone conversation on Thursday with his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son, Wang said the Ukraine issue “has once again made Asian countries realise that maintaining peace and stability is precious and indulging in group confrontation will lead to endless risks”.
China has been under pressure from the United States and Europe for refraining from calling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February a war. Instead, China has backed Russia’s “reasonable security concerns” and accused the US and Nato of driving the conflict.
Like China, Vietnam was one of more than 30 countries to abstain from voting on UN resolutions condemning Russia for its attack on Ukraine and the escalating humanitarian crisis.
Vietnam is also being wooed by the US, which has pledged to strengthen its ties with Hanoi and others in the region as part of its Indo-Pacific strategy, published in February.
“The United States has tried to create regional tension and provoke confrontation by pushing forward the Indo-Pacific strategy,” Wang said, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.
“This will seriously damage the hard-won peaceful development in the region and erode regional cooperation that has had Asean at its core. We cannot let the Cold War mentality return to the region and the Ukraine tragedy to repeat around us.”
