Bangkok/Beijing, Nov. 18, (dpa/GNA) - The Asia-Pacific region must not become an “arena for competition between great powers,” China’s state and party leader Xi Jinping said during a keynote speech on Thursday to a meeting of business leaders on the eve of the Asia-Pacific summit (APEC) in Bangkok.
Xi, apparently alluding to the US, said the region belonged to no one as a “backyard,” according to the speech published by the official Xinhua news agency.
The attempt to wage a “new Cold War” will not be allowed, Xi reportedly said.
Any attempt to disrupt or dismantle the industrial supply chains that have been built up over many years in the Asia-Pacific region will lead economic cooperation to a dead end. Only openness brings progress, he added.
The Chinese leader had arrived in the Thai capital, where the APEC summit is to take place, after attending the G20 summit on the Indonesian island of Bali.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived in Bangkok late on Wednesday, planning to meet the Chinese leader for the first time in about three years.
Relations between China and Japan have been difficult because of territorial disputes and Japan’s handling of its wartime past.
Observers expect Kishida to express Japan’s concern about China’s power ambitions in the region.
At the same time, however, Kishida says he wants “constructive and stable relations” with the neighbouring giant empire and to explore possibilities for cooperation. This includes the fight against climate change.
GNA