Indo-Pacific strategy of US interferes in China’s internal affairs: Chinese military

Beijing, Feb 24 (PTI) China’s military on Thursday slammed the recently released “Indo-Pacific Strategy” of the United States, saying it interferes with its domestic affairs.

China, which has territorial disputes with many countries in the strategic Indo-Pacific region, has been opposing the US proactive policy specifically in the disputed South China Sea. The US report hyped up foreign threats and tried to form exclusive cliques yet claimed to promote regional freedom, openness, prosperity and security, which is “void of any logic or reason,” Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defence, told an online press conference.

Diversity and inclusiveness are the cornerstones of prosperity and development in the Asia-Pacific region, and people of Asian Pacific look forward to an open and inclusive environment rather than a narrow and isolated one, Tan said. China urges the US to embrace the contemporary trend of peaceful development and win-win cooperation and help build the Asia-Pacific region into a driver of mutually beneficial cooperation, rather than an arena of zero-sum game, he said.

China firmly opposes the negative content regarding Taiwan in the US report, which is a gross interference in China’s internal affairs and a violation of the one-China principle and the basic norms governing international relations, Tan said. “The Taiwan question concerns China’s core interests, and brooks no external meddling,” he reiterated.

In November 2017, the US, Australia, India and Japan gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the Quad to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence, amidst China’s growing military presence in the strategic region. China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it. Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea. Beijing is also involved in a maritime dispute with Japan over the East China Sea.

The Quad leaders at their first-in-person summit in Washington on September 25 hosted by US President Joe Biden had pledged to ensure a “free and open” Indo-Pacific, which is also “inclusive and resilient”, as they noted that the strategically vital region, witnessing China’s growing military manoeuvring, is a bedrock of their shared security and prosperity.