What are the focus points?, Deep | East Asian Cooperation Series Foreign Ministers Meeting Opened Tomorrow | China | East Asian Cooperation Series Foreign Ministers Meeting

Just received visiting US Treasury Secretary Yellen at home, and tomorrow China will launch another important neighboring diplomatic action at the away game. From the 13th to the 14th, Wang Yi, Director of the Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China's Foreign Affairs Working Committee, will attend the China ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting, ASEAN and China Japan South Korea Foreign Ministers Meeting, East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers Meeting, and ASEAN Regional Forum Foreign Ministers Meeting held in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia.

Analysis suggests that a series of meetings are taking place at a time when the world economic recovery is facing significant challenges such as uncertainty and geopolitical conflicts. China hopes to deepen cooperation with regional countries and practice true multilateralism. Currently, China ASEAN cooperation has reached a new important milestone, and cooperation between China, Japan, and South Korea has also shown a new trend. Whether all parties can lay a solid foundation for regional peace and development, and maintain the correct direction of East Asian cooperation has become a focus of much attention.

Seeking stability in the face of major changes

Indonesia is the rotating chair of ASEAN this year, and has established the theme of "ASEAN Focus: The Center for Growth". After holding an ASEAN summit in the first half of this year, the series of East Asian Cooperation Foreign Ministers' Meetings held this week are aimed at preparing for the series of summits in the second half of the year, and are seen by foreign media as the prelude to the summit.

According to the Jakarta Post, the focus of the East Asian Cooperation Series meetings will include developing ASEAN's long-term vision, advancing negotiations on the South China Sea Code of Conduct, and ensuring a nuclear weapon free state in the region. Participants will seek to reach 12 outcome documents, including a long-awaited joint communiqu é.

The newspaper reported that over 1000 representatives from around the world will participate in a series of conferences. In addition to Wang Yi, several senior officials who have confirmed their presence include: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, Japanese Foreign Minister Lin Fangzheng, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Zhen, EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Borrell, etc.

It should be added that the ASEAN Regional Forum, consisting of 27 members, is one of the few multilateral mechanisms with the participation of North Korean representatives. However, North Korean Foreign Minister Choi Sang hee will not attend the forum this time, and it is unclear whether North Korea's Ambassador to Indonesia and ASEAN, An Guang il, will attend on behalf of him.

Liu Qing, Vice President of the China Academy of International Studies, pointed out that the background of the East Asian series of foreign ministers' meetings can be observed from two perspectives.

From the perspective of "China ASEAN", China regards ASEAN as the priority direction of neighboring diplomacy and a key area for high-quality joint construction of the "the Belt and Road". Currently, China ASEAN cooperation has entered a new important stage. Since the announcement of the establishment of the China ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership in 2021, the cooperation between the two sides has started strongly and has shown a strong momentum. To ensure the high-level operation of this relationship, it is necessary to further implement new concepts and contents of cooperation, such as promoting the upgrading and upgrading of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area, entering the "3.0 era", and so on.

In addition, this year marks the 10th anniversary of China's proposal to build a closer China ASEAN community with a shared future, as well as the 20th anniversary of China's signing and accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia. Standing at this historical juncture, it is particularly important for both sides to summarize their past successful experiences and plan for the next 20 years of development.

From the perspective of "ASEAN World", the world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation, with fragile and weak global economic recovery, a resurgence of Cold War thinking and factional confrontation, and some regions still experiencing geopolitical conflicts. In such an environment, ASEAN members generally maintain political stability and achieve sustained economic recovery. The International Monetary Fund predicts that its growth rate will reach 4.7% this year.

Liu Qing stated that ASEAN is an important engine for regional cooperation and development in Asia. Joining hands with China, the largest economy in Asia, will inject strong impetus into regional economic integration and more certainty into the still bumpy path of world economic recovery.

Xu Liping, a researcher at the Asia Pacific and Global Strategy Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, stated that the great power game is deepening, the Ukraine crisis is still lingering, the recovery of world economic growth is weak, inflation, energy and food crises have not been significantly alleviated, and the globalization process is constantly being impacted by various factors... In this context, ASEAN hopes to work together with all parties to seek regional peace and development, and effectively drive overall East Asian cooperation.

A New Node in China ASEAN Cooperation

What will be the highlights in a frequent meeting? Let's first take a look at the "10+1" Foreign Ministers' Meeting.

Liu Qing believes that from the perspective of ASEAN, Indonesia, as the rotating presidency, has proposed three pillars, one of which is the goal of achieving the ASEAN Indo Pacific vision. Unlike the US Indo Pacific strategy, which emphasizes exclusivity and serves competition among major powers, ASEAN's Indo Pacific vision advocates openness and inclusiveness, highlighting the principle of independence and autonomy. How Indonesia can promote the alignment of this vision with the development strategies of partner countries will become a major focus.

Another highlight is how ASEAN can deepen cooperation in areas such as digital economy and technology empowerment as a new round of technological revolution reshapes the world economy. In the statement of the ASEAN Summit in the first half of this year, it was mentioned to achieve inclusive digital transformation and build the 2045 ASEAN Digital Economy Community. It remains to be seen how ASEAN can cooperate with its partners, including China, to build a new highland of innovation and development.

From the perspective of China, this year is the second year of the opening of the China ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership, and many specific matters need to be implemented, such as maintaining regional peace and stability, preventing major country competition from disrupting regional cooperation, promoting the South China Sea Code of Conduct negotiations, taking the 10th anniversary of the "the Belt and Road" initiative as an opportunity to strengthen connectivity with ASEAN countries along the route, linking the priority projects of the global development initiative with the vision of ASEAN, India and the Pacific, and promoting the negotiations on the China ASEAN Free Trade Area version 3.0, etc.

Xu Liping introduced that just a few days ago, the third round of negotiations for the 3.0 version of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area was held in Kunming. The upgraded version will focus on emerging areas such as service trade and digital economy. If the negotiations are successful, it will significantly promote the facilitation of regional trade and investment. At the same time, the Lancang Mekong Cooperation has become a "golden model" of sub regional cooperation, and it is also worth looking forward to whether future sub regional cooperation can tap into its potential.

Watch the "10+3" Foreign Ministers' Meeting again. Liu Qing noticed that just earlier this month, the China Japan South Korea Cooperation International Forum was held in Qingdao. Wang Yi emphasized the need to send a clear signal through the forum to China, Japan, and South Korea to cooperate and reorganize their organization, and Japan and South Korea have also made a relatively positive statement.

"The 10+3 cooperation has been affected by factors such as the epidemic and has stagnated in the past few years. Apart from reaching a consensus within the framework of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, the efficiency of cooperation in other areas is relatively low." Liu Qing said, "However, although there are still conflicts and differences between China, Japan, and South Korea, recent trilateral cooperation has shown a positive trend. Moreover, the desire of all parties to promote regional trade and investment liberalization is consistent. In the future, it is necessary to strengthen coordination in areas such as new energy investment and increasing industrial chain resilience, and strive to establish more consensus."

Xu Liping said that relevant reports show that the GDP of the "10+3" region will achieve a rapid growth of 4.6% this year. In June of this year, RCEP has fully implemented for all partner countries, which is an incentive and promotion for "10+3" cooperation. As some analyses have pointed out, "10+3" requires more than ever before to make good use of the opportunities for regional economic growth.

How to sing several "bilateral scenes"

Xu Liping said that if "10+1" and "10+3" focus on regional cooperation, then the East Asian Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum focus on security in the Asia Pacific region and can pay attention to how all parties carry out preventive diplomacy.

Liu Qing said that the East Asian Summit mainly serves as a communication platform and plays a role in enhancing political mutual trust. Considering the prominent conflicts between the two major participating countries of the forum - Russia and the United States, it is bound to be difficult to coordinate the position of the summit. But for senior diplomats from Russia and the United States, this at least provides an opportunity for "one room coexistence". Lavrov and Antony Blinken last met in New Delhi, when they talked for about 10 minutes between the G20 meeting.

"The ASEAN Regional Forum, under the leadership of ASEAN, focuses mainly on internal affairs," Liu Qing said, during which the Myanmar issue may be involved. ASEAN hopes to engage in inclusive dialogue and promote political trust among relevant parties. ASEAN countries may also reiterate their demand for a "nuclear free Southeast Asia". Currently, only China has expressed its willingness to take the lead in signing the protocol to the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty.

Furthermore, it is worth noting that all participating parties will also use the "big stage" of the series of foreign ministers' meetings to carry out "small bilateral" and "small multilateral" contacts.

Much attention has been paid to whether Wang Yi and Antony Blinken will meet again less than a month later. Two analysts believe that if the two meet, it will help to continue the relationship between China and the United States, implement the consensus of the Bali meeting between the two heads of state, and ease differences in relationship management. If we can focus on some practical cooperation areas, it would be a positive signal for both the region and the world.

Whether Wang Yi will meet with Lavrov has also attracted attention from all parties. The relationship between China and Russia has always been at a high level, with the recent visit of Russia's "number three figure" and Chairman of the Russian Federation Council, Matvyenko, to China. Russian media reported that regional cooperation has become a key issue. In addition, it is also worth looking forward to whether there will be diplomatic interactions between China, South Korea, and China and Japan.

On the other hand, the United States, Japan, and South Korea are also expected to engage in multiple rounds of bilateral and multilateral interactions. Xu Liping said that there is no doubt that the United States will deepen its relations with allies and advance the "Indo Pacific strategy" on this occasion. China does not oppose their normal contact, but opposes their exclusive cooperation with third parties in a "small courtyard high wall" style. China hopes that all parties will focus more on the common security of the region, rather than forming cliques and forming small circles.

Not acting as an agent for major country competition

Before Antony Blinken's departure, the American media had announced that Myanmar and China would be the focus of their attention. Assistant Secretary of State for Asia Pacific Affairs Conda also stated on this trip that the United States will join forces with some countries to counter China's "coercive actions". At the same time, Japanese media also reported that they will "strive to work together with ASEAN countries to constrain China" and stir up the South China Sea issue.

Liu Qing said that the series of East Asian Cooperation Foreign Ministers' Meetings is a platform that focuses on regional cooperation. Some countries outside the region have introduced disharmonious factors into this framework, forcing regional countries to choose sides and take sides, which goes against the grand aspiration of regional peace and development. It has been proven that the so-called "freedom of navigation" is simply an excuse for some countries to stir up regional conflicts for their own interests. The key to peace and stability in the South China Sea lies in regional countries adhering to mutual trust, unity and cooperation, and taking the initiative to resolve differences in their own hands.

Xu Liping pointed out that, contrary to the clamor of some countries outside the region, peace and stability in the South China Sea have never been fundamentally reversed. China and ASEAN countries are currently negotiating on the specific content of the South China Sea Code of Conduct framework, striving to reach an agreement as soon as possible. As the Indonesian Foreign Minister stated in his recent opening speech at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Conference, "ASEAN will never become a proxy for major country competition," this is a clear signal sent by ASEAN countries. Therefore, it is hoped that some countries will abandon the Cold War mentality and do more things that are conducive to regional peace and stability.