Russia and China should join forces in Southeast Asia, Lavrov tells Wang at Asean meeting

Russia and China should join efforts to counter interference from external forces in Southeast Asia, Moscow's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told his Chinese counterpart as the strategic partners push for strong coordination in the region as a counterweight to the US.

Without specifying, he said: "We have a unified position. We must do everything to prevent it from being destroyed, [and] we believe it is important ... to jointly counter interference by forces from outside this region in the affairs of Southeast Asia and to make contributions to its well-being and prosperity," according to Russian news agency Tass.

"Other multilateral platforms are also important. Among them, of course, is Asean and the whole Asean-centric architecture," Lavrov told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, on the sidelines of an Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) meeting on Thursday.

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Their meeting came a day after Wang held a three-hour meeting with Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba who said Ukraine was open to talks with Russia if Moscow acted "in good faith".

Lavrov thanked Wang for China's "balanced and consistent" position on the Ukraine crisis and welcomed Beijing's initiatives to promote approaches that took into account the interests of all the stakeholders, according to Russia's foreign ministry.

The two diplomats also discussed "cooperation within Asean, considering the fact that certain countries have become increasingly proactive in setting up restricted bloc-based military and political mechanisms which are designed to undermine the Asean-centric security and stability framework for the Asia-Pacific region".

Wang hailed ties with Russia as "mature, stable, resilient and autonomous, with solid political mutual trust, deepening strategic cooperation and broad prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation", according to China's foreign ministry.

"In the face of the chaotic international situation and external interference and resistance, China is willing to work with Russia ... to safeguard the core interests of each other, and always be a fellow traveller and a good partner in each other's development," Wang was quoted by the readout as saying.

The two sides should also "maintain communication and coordination on East Asian cooperation", he added.

Earlier, the duo joined Laotian Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith in a meeting in which the three sides "expressed concerns over extraterritorial forces fanning the flames in the Asia-Pacific region", according to China's foreign ministry.

The three countries were "willing to strengthen coordination and cooperation to promote the cooling of hotspot issues and the maintenance of regional security and stability and ... will work together to oppose power politics and confrontation."

Top diplomats from the 10 member states of Asean are being joined by Wang and Lavrov as well as counterparts from the United States, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Britain and the European Union in the Laotian capital until Saturday for the annual East Asia Summit foreign ministers' meeting.

This year tensions have been mounted in the South China Sea, the strategically important waterway and a crucial trade route where four Asean members - Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei - are locked in maritime disputes with China over territorial claims.

Indonesia, another Asean member, has its own concerns because its exclusive economic zone in the North Natuna Sea falls within the so-called nine-dash line, which Beijing uses to claim much of the waters.

However, there have been a series of confrontations involving China and the Philippines in the South China Sea this year, while Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has moved his nation closer to the US and sought stronger cooperation with other US allies, such as Japan and Australia.

Chinese coastguards have also used water cannons in clashes with their Philippine counterparts, and Manila has accused the other side of using dangerous manoeuvres to block resupply missions to the disputed Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands.

Manila grounded the ageing warship, BRP Sierra Madre, on the shoal in 1999 and has stationed troops there to assert its claims over the area. Beijing said only humanitarian supplies and no construction materials were allowed.

Earlier, the US suggested it would do "what is necessary" to support resupply missions, though Philippine officials have turned down offers from the US, insisting the operations should be purely Philippine.

Last week, after a series of meetings, Beijing and Manila said they had reached a temporary deal to prevent stand-offs escalating around the Sierra Madre, but there was soon disagreement, with Manila objecting to Beijing's conditions of prior notification and on-site verification.

During the Cold War, Moscow was active in Southeast Asia and supported nationalist movements in the region, particularly with military and economic aid to Vietnam and Laos.

In 1979, four years after the end of the Vietnam war, the Soviet government signed a 25-year lease on a naval base in Cam Ranh Bay in southeastern Vietnam, which Russia left in 2002.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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