Asean must not be forced to pick sides, Indonesia says during visit by China's Qin Gang
Indonesia on Wednesday reiterated that Asean countries should not become a proxy for any power and that it will try to expedite the South China Sea Code of Conduct (COC) during its chairmanship of the regional grouping this year.
The remarks were delivered by Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi during a joint press conference with her Chinese counterpart Qin Gang, who is on a two-day visit to the Southeast Asian nation, his first trip to the region after he was appointed to the post in December.
"Asean should not become a proxy for any power," Retno said. "Indonesia and Asean have a strong interest in Southeast Asia remaining a peaceful and stable region and making it a centre of economic growth."
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In Jakarta, Qin Gang chaired the fourth iteration of both nations' Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC), which was last held in Beijing in 2018.
On Wednesday morning, Qin also visited President Joko Widodo at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, where the president "conveyed the importance of Indonesia and China being the engine of peace and stability in the region, as economic development cannot be carried out without peace and stability", according to a statement from the palace.
On his side, Qin said that China supported Asean's "strategic independence and Asean centrality".
"A new Cold War or major country rivalry should not take place in our region, the Asia-Pacific. Regional countries should not be forced to pick sides," he said during the joint news briefing.
"We hope and trust that Indonesia and other Asean countries will bear in mind the peace, stability, and prosperity of the region and make independent judgment and choices," he said. "We stand against group politics and bloc confrontation."
Both sides also discussed the plan to speed up negotiation of a COC between Asean and China as "Indonesia wants to see the South China Sea as a peaceful and stable sea", Retno said.
"Respect for international law, especially Unclos 1982, is key. And after being delayed due to the pandemic, negotiations on the Code of Conduct will be carried out again and intensified in-person. Indonesia and Asean want to produce an effective, substantive and actionable COC," she said. Unclos 1982, the UN Law of the Sea Convention, is an international law that governs all activities in the world's oceans and seas.
Retno said she hoped Beijing would take part in implementing the Asean Outlook for Indo-Pacific, which "emphasises inclusivity and the importance of concrete, mutually beneficial relations" in the region.
Qin said that Beijing would "work with Asean countries to fully and effectively implement the COC and speed up consultations on COC" to increase the stability in the South China Sea.
Trade and investments were the main agenda at Wednesday's JCBC meeting. Both countries agreed to strengthen cooperation in trade and investments, with Qin saying that Beijing was ready to further increase imports of Indonesia's commodities and agriculture products, as well as encouraging Chinese companies to invest in Indonesia and expand the cooperation in green development, digital economy, and healthcare.
Retno said she hoped connectivity between China and Indonesia continued to improve in the near future, particularly to boost the number of Chinese tourists in the country.
Qin said he believed the number of Chinese tourists in Indonesia "will soon surpass the pre-Covid level", which was around 2 million per year.
China is Indonesia's largest trade partner and one of its biggest foreign investors. In 2022, Indonesia's trade with China was recorded at US$133,65 billion, and China was also the country's second-largest foreign investor with US$5.18 billion in investment.
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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