Won’t veer into conflict with China
- Biden to meet China's Xi in Bali today
- Japan, S. Korea, US denounce North's missile launches
US President Joe Biden told Asian leaders yesterday that US communication lines with China would stay open to prevent conflict, as the first of three summits of world leaders this week ended, with tense talks almost certain in the days ahead.
Biden during an address to the East Asia Summit in Cambodia, said the United States would "compete vigorously" with Beijing while "ensuring competition does not veer into conflict", stressing the importance of peace in the Taiwan Strait.
Biden also called on Myanmar's military rulers to follow a peace plan they agreed to with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), while condemning North Korea's missile launches and Russia's "brutal and unjust" invasion of Ukraine.
The Southeast Asia region is also hosting the Group of 20 (G20) Summit in Indonesia's Bali this week, ahead of which Biden will meet Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for the first time since taking office, with relations between the two superpowers at their worst in decades.
The war in Ukraine and its economic fallout is expected to dominate discussions in Bali and at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Bangkok at the end of the week, as alongside climate commitments, food insecurity and tensions over the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea and North Korea.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the summit in Cambodia yesterday accused the West of militarising Southeast Asia to contain Chinese and Russian interest in a key geostrategic battleground.
"The United States and its Nato allies are trying to master this space," Lavrov told reporters.
He said Biden's Indo-Pacific strategy, which the US president was promoting heavily at the meeting, was an attempt to bypass "inclusive structures" for regional cooperation.
Biden held a trilateral meeting with leaders of allies Japan and South Korea and said the three countries were "more aligned than ever" on North Korea.
South Korea President Yoon Suk-yeol said the North's recent provocations showed its regime's "nature against humanitarianism".
Japan counterpart Fumio Kishida said Pyongyang's actions, which included a recent firing of a ballistic missile over Japan, were unprecedented.
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