Southeast Asian leaders: region no proxy for any powers

Indonesia’s president vowed Sunday not to let Southeast Asia become the front lines of a new Cold War amid increasing tensions between the United States and China, saying as his country took over the chairmanship of the influential Association of Southeast Asian Nations that it would not become “a proxy to any powers.”
Joko Widodo said the 10-nation bloc with a combined population of some 700 million people “must be a dignified region” and “uphold the values of humanity and democracy” — principles that have been challenged by last year’s military takeover in Myanmar and concerns about human rights in Cambodia.
“ASEAN must become a peaceful region and anchor for global stability, consistently uphold international law and not be a proxy to any powers,” he said. “ASEAN should not let the current geopolitical dynamic turn into a new Cold War in our region.”
As China has grown more assertive in the Asia-Pacific and pressed its claim to the self-governing democracy of Taiwan, the U.S. has pushed back, leading to increasing tensions.
Even as the ASEAN leaders met over the weekend in Phnom Penh, U.S. naval exercises with its partners in the so-called “Quad” group of nations — Australia, India and Japan — were underway in the Philippine Sea, east of Taiwan.