China Urges ASEAN to Reject Exclusivity Amid Global Challenges

Jakarta (ANTARA) - China’s Ambassador to ASEAN, Wang Qing, has urged ASEAN and China to maintain solidarity and reject exclusivity as they jointly confront global challenges. “We must ensure that mutual trust, solidarity, and cooperation remain our common foundation, and that the future of the region remains in our own hands,” Wang said at the Jakarta Forum 2026 event marking five years of the ASEAN-China comprehensive strategic partnership on Monday. “We must reject foreign interference, attempts to form exclusive circles or provoke confrontation, and any efforts to revive militarism that disrupts regional stability,” he continued. He noted that unilateralism, protectionism, as well as energy and food crises pose major challenges as ASEAN and China seize opportunities from the shifting economic epicentre to Asia. As “close neighbours with a shared future”, China and ASEAN must enhance cooperation to drive steady and stable growth, Ambassador Wang said. China and ASEAN have recorded numerous achievements since bilateral dialogue was established in 1991. With the adoption of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (FTA) 3.0 upgrade protocol, bilateral trade in 2025 reached 1 billion US dollars, he said. Additionally, nearly two billion people in Southeast Asia and China have benefited from close China-ASEAN cooperation, he said, highlighting the China-Laos railway and the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway as symbols of the close collaboration between the two sides. With these achievements, the Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN called on both parties to continue enhancing cooperation in priority sectors, including food and energy security, economic linkages, and supply chain stability. He also encouraged accelerating the implementation of the ASEAN-China FTA 3.0 and realising an increasingly open regional common market. Amid these efforts, however, Wang did not forget to stress the importance of upholding the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC), which aligns with China’s Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, for regional peace and stability. Ambassador Wang also reaffirmed his support for an ASEAN-oriented, open, and inclusive regional cooperation architecture, as well as his side’s commitment to ensuring stable ASEAN-China cooperation for shared certainty.