Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivered a policy speech on Monday on safeguarding open regionalism at the ASEAN Secretariat, urging to uphold the vision of peace, development, independence and inclusiveness.

Wang said Asia is standing at a new historical starting point and facing unprecedented development opportunities, and China chooses to join hands with ASEAN members and other regional countries to firmly uphold open regionalism and, by drawing experience and wisdom from Asian civilizations and practices, constantly add new dimensions to open regionalism.

In the meantime, Wang said that the world today is not peaceful and there are two completely different trends on the future of Asia. Therefore, all countries in the region should make a choice between openness or isolation, cooperation or confrontation, solidarity or division, progress or regression.

Wang put forward four points regarding open regionalism based on the challenges and opportunities.

First, relevant countries should always uphold the concept of peaceful coexistence and should never allow any attempt to extend geopolitical conflicts or bloc confrontations to Asia, nor wish to see any sanction, blockade or humanitarian crisis here.

Second, countries in the region should always uphold the goal of development and rejuvenation, which means that China and ASEAN countries should together defend the multilateral trading regime with the World Trade Organization as the cornerstone, ensure a free and open global market, and promote integrated economic development.

Wang also said that it is necessary to continue to uphold independence, respect each other's sovereignty and core interests, and respect the integrity, independence and leading role of ASEAN as a community to insulate the region from geopolitical calculations and the trap of the law of the jungle, from being used as pawns in major-power rivalry, and from coercion by hegemony and bullying.

Moreover, it is necessary to promote harmony without uniformity, embrace diversity in coexistence and reject the attempt to split the region into confrontational or exclusive groups, Wang remarked.

He urged to uphold true regional cooperation that unites countries within the region and remains open to countries outside and reject the kind of fake regional cooperation that keeps a certain country out and targets a certain side.

Global Times