Russia, China may respond to Western plans to destroy Asian security architecture — envoy

Russian Politics & Diplomacy September 11, 2023, 11:00

The West is seeking to destroy the security architecture around the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and replace it with Washington’s "Indo-Pacific" constructions, Georgy Zinovyev said

VLADIVOSTOK, September 11. /TASS/. Russia and China will respond to any Western attempts to destroy the security architecture of the Asia-Pacific region, Georgy Zinovyev, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s First Asian Department, told TASS on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum, which is taking place in Vladivostok on September 10-13.

According to the diplomat, Moscow and Beijing are concerned over the United States and its allies pursuing a confrontational policy course toward militarization of the Asia-Pacific region drawing on NATO’s military potential. "No doubt, our countries will react to the existing and potential threats in the region, including as part of cooperation in the military sphere, with joint exercises as well as naval and air patrols being held on a regular basis," he said.

The West is seeking to destroy the security architecture around the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and replace it with Washington’s "Indo-Pacific" constructions, Zinovyev said. "Similar steps are being taken along the lines of the concept of deterrence Westerners have cherished since the Cold War era," he said. "Unfortunately, AUKUS (the Australia-UK-US security pact - TASS) is not the only such project that poses major risks both to all regional players and, inevitably, the initiators of and participants in NATO’s schemes in Asia," he lamented.

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