China's President Xi Jinping warns against 'cold war era' tensions in Asia-Pacific region

China’s President Xi Jinping on Thursday, 11 November warned against a return to cold-war tensions in the Asia-Pacific, Xinhua reported. Amid escalating tensions with the US over Taiwan, Jinping, while speaking at the Asia-Pacific economic Cooperations CEO Summit, urged all nations in the region to work together on joint challenges. He also stated that at present, COVID-19 is still ravaging the world, and the journey to global economic recovery remains a difficult and tortuous one. 

“Attempts to draw ideological lines or form small circles on geopolitical grounds are bound to fail,” the Chinese President told the virtual conference, adding “The Asia-Pacific region cannot and should not relapse into the confrontation and division of the cold war era.”

According to The Guardian, Jinping’s remarks were an apparent reference to the US efforts with allies, including the QUAD grouping with India, Japan and Australia and the new AUKUS alliance, to blunt what Washington sees as Beijing’s growing coercive economic and military influence. The US and China have remained geopolitical rivals for decades and relations between them have further frayed due to Beijing's aggressive claims of sovereignty along the South China Sea fuelled by Chinese engagement in testing high-tech projectiles. However, China has repeatedly asked America to not only recognise the “sensitivity” of the China-Taiwan issue but also warned Washington to “abide by the one-China principle”.

It is to mention that Jinping’s comments come after the Chinese military on Tuesday conducted a combat readiness patrol in the direction of the Taiwan Strait after its defence ministry condemned a visit by a US congressional delegation to Taiwan. The US, on the other hand, has said that it would ensure that Taiwan can defend itself to avoid anyone “trying to disrupt the status quo by force”. Amid such tensions, US President Joe Biden and Jinping are likely to hold a bilateral virtual meeting on Monday, as per Sputnik. 

Jinping calls for joint effort to close ‘immunisation gap’ 

Meanwhile, during the same conference, the Chinese leader also called for a joint effort to close the immunisation gap, making COVID-19 vaccines more accessible to developing nations. He said that the region should ensure that developing nations can access and afford coronavirus vaccines. 

The Chinese leader urged the region to also make efforts to fight COVID-19, saying, “At this trying time, it is all the more important that we should stay confident, keep a steady hand on the tiller, and forge ahead with determination.”

(With inputs from ANI)