Ahead of the Quad summit on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi slammed the United States' Indo-Pacific strategy on Sunday, charging that the four-nation grouping was formed in the guise of freedom and openness but with the purpose to contain China.
He made these comments while addressing a press conference after talks with visiting Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in Guangzhou, Xinhua news agency reported.
When asked about the "Indo-Pacific Strategy", Wang said: "The US' Indo-Pacific Strategy is causing more and more vigilance and concern in the international community, especially in the Asia-Pacific region."
This is because the strategy has given away its intention, not only attempting to erase the name "Asia-Pacific" and the effective regional cooperation architecture in the region but also trying to erase the achievements and momentum of peaceful development, Wang said.
Wang said that the people of the Asia-Pacific want national stability and happy life, while countries within the region don't want to take sides and hope that countries can live together in harmony and pursue win-win cooperation.
Wang criticized the US for creating the "Indo-Pacific Strategy" to form small cliques in the name of freedom and openness to contain China.
Pakistan Foreign Minister began his two-day visit to China on Saturday. The visit comes amid the slow progress of CPEC projects and worsening security situation in Pakistan that have caused friction between the two countries.
Pakistan Foreign Minister, who was also present at the presser in Guangzhou, said both the leaders engaged in talks pertaining to economic coordination, industrialization, and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which has been running into hurdles due to the faltering Pakistani economy.
During the press conference, Bilawal asserted that the China-Pakistan friendship is getting stronger and that he is grateful for China's support in every difficult time, reported Ary news.
The newly appointed foreign minister also condemned the recent terrorist attack on Chinese nationals at Karachi University. He promised to bring the culprit to justice responsible and gave assurances about the security of the Chinese workers at the CPEC project.
