Foreign Intervention Triggers Tensions In Asia-Pacific, China And Russia Protest

Chinese and Russian Foreign Ministers Wang Yi and Sergey Lavrov (Anadolu via ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Vientiane, the capital of Laos, hosted the annual peak meeting of foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Foreign ministers of China, Russia, New Zealand, Japan, the US and India also attended the summit for separate meetings at the block level with the regional bloc.

At their first trilateral meeting in Vientiane, Chinese and Russian Foreign Ministers Wang Yi and Sergey Lavrov, together with Laos Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith, all three expressed "worries over external forces fueling problems in the Asia-Pacific region."

They denounced what the two allies called "extra-regional" forces that sparked tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, Friday, July 26.

Wang, Lavrov and Kommasith are "committed to strengthen coordination to ease regional tensions and maintain regional security and stability," a statement released Friday by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs was quoted as saying by ANTARA.

It said the three countries would "together oppose the politics of power, reject the confrontation of the camp, practice multilaterism and defend justice and justice."

Concerns over the "extra-regional force" by the three countries came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled to land in Vientiane to attend a block-level meeting with ASEAN.

Blinken is also scheduled to meet Wang for bilateral talks, before he flies to Japan on an official trip.

"We believe in the importance of continuing this dialogue to combine our efforts to counter any effort by the extra-regional forces that interfere with Southeast Asia's affairs and to contribute to its welfare and prosperity," Lavrov said.

Lavrov said this during his bilateral meeting with Wang, after holding a trilateral meeting with laos on Thursday, July 25.