East Asia must snub divisive Washington diplomacy

The video meetings of the foreign ministers of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea from Tuesday to Friday provide countries in the region with a platform to deepen their mutual trust and coordinate their actions to tame the novel coronavirus and revive the regional economy.

In contrast, the parallel video conferences US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is holding with his counterparts of the 10 ASEAN members from Monday to Friday have a different objective, as the United States is trying to sow discord between these countries and China and form a regional clique to help it contain China.

No wonder the Joe Biden administration has invested so much energy and resources to the US' Indo-Pacific strategy, as it now regards the region as the priority for its diplomacy.

As such, although the video conferences between Blinken the ASEAN foreign ministers have the same focus on pandemic control and economic recovery, the US intends to exploit these objectives to sabotage cooperation in the region.

It is predictable that the US will carry out more actions in the region in its bid to isolate China, for instance, by taking advantage of the territorial disputes some regional countries have with China in the South China Sea, flexing its military muscles more frequently with its allies, including the United Kingdom, Australia, India and Japan, and reshaping the regional supply chains that have long had China as their central node.

Since China and ASEAN are each other's largest trade partner, they should be wary of the potential harm the disruptive efforts of the US might have on their economic and trade cooperation and historical friendship.

Knowing which country treats them as equal partners, and which country regards them as expendable pieces on its chess board, the ASEAN countries should know what to do to prevent the region from becoming the arena for confrontation.