Friendly front: Cambodia’s Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn (centre) shaking hands with South Korea’s Foreign Minister Park Jin as their counterparts – (from left) Japan’s Yoshimasa Hayashi, Wang and Indonesia’s Retno Marsudi – look on during the 55th Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Phnom Penh. — AFP
CHINESE Foreign Minister Wang Yi has stressed his country’s efforts to strengthen ties with South-East Asian nations at a meeting with their foreign ministers.
Wang’s talks with top diplomats from Asean were held yesterday amid high tensions in the region, following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, which has infuriated Beijing.
In his opening remarks, Wang did not mention the situation but instead stressed how China and the Asean countries had strengthened cooperation in recent years.
“We have safeguarded the oasis of peace in the face of the turbulence in the international security situation,” he said.
Wang said China would continue to “strive to promote high-quality development, build a new development pattern, provide greater momentum for regional and world economic recovery and development, and provide more development opportunities for Asean countries”.
Both US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov were to hold separate meetings later in the day with the Asean group. — AP
