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Prabowo champions ‘Asian ways’ amid big power rivalry
Amid intensifying big power rivalry and minilateralism in the Indo-Pacific region, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto told Asia's premier security meeting on Saturday that Southeast Asia already has “Asian ways” of resolving regional security challenges.
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Indonesia's Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto arrives for the US-ASEAN bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore on June 10, 2022. (AFP/Roslan Rahman)
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mid intensifying big power rivalry and minilateralism in the Indo-Pacific region, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto told Asia's premier security meeting on Saturday that Southeast Asia already has “Asian ways” of resolving regional security challenges.
He was speaking on the second day of the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore, during which the United States and its allies traded barbs with China, especially on Taiwan.
Prabowo said the geography of Southeast Asia meant the region was the crossroad of “imperialism, big powers domination and depredation”. But past experiences, he said, had made the countries in the Southeast Asian region aware of the need for wise and benevolent leadership as they were the most affected by big power competitions.
“During the last 40 to 50 years, we have come to our own Asian ways of resolving these [security] challenges. Our common experiences of being dominated, enslaved and exploited forced us to strive and create a peaceful environment, an environment of friendship,” he said.
Southeast Asia was not without its differences, as shown in some territorial claims, Prabowo said, but nevertheless "our view is that we must strive for understanding and communication".
He said the region was not immune to current international dynamics outside the region, pointing out that what happened in Ukraine was also affecting the Indo-Pacific region in terms of food and energy.
Read also: Indonesia to push ASEAN's Indo-Pacific Outlook at Shangri-La Dialogue 2022
