China lays ground to counter US Indo-Pacific strategy in Asia

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meeting his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi during their bilateral meeting ahead of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia on July 7, 2022. - Reuters

BALI (Bloomberg): As US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in South-East Asia for his first visit in more than six months, he’ll find his Chinese counterpart halfway through a two-week diplomatic blitz across the key strategic battleground.

Since Sunday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has secured a fresh pledge from Thailand to complete a US$5.2 billion rail link between the two countries and expressed a willingness to open a "golden age” of ties with the Philippines’ newly elected president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.