‘U.S. created Indo-Pacific concept to bring in India to contain China,’ says Chinese official

Chinese diplomat and Ambassador to France Lu Shaye blames ‘foreign forces’ for fanning recent protests in China

There “is no such concept as Indo-Pacific” which was “created by the United States” to bring in partners such as India to “contain” China, a Chinese diplomat has said, reflecting Beijing’s hardening opposition to both Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy as well as regional groupings such as the Quad.

“In fact, there is no such concept as an ‘Indo-Pacific in geopolitics,” Chinese diplomat and Ambassador to France Lu Shaye said in an interaction with French journalists, a transcript of which was published on Wednesday by China’s Embassy in Paris.

“It is a concept created by the U. S.”, he added. “In the past, we used to talk about the Pacific or the Asia-Pacific region, never about the Indo-Pacific. Why did the Americans include the Indian Ocean? It is because they believe their Asia-Pacific allies alone are no longer enough to contain China, they want to bring in India and other U. S. allies, such as France, which considers itself an Indo-Pacific country. This is wrong.”

Asked if it was “wrong” for France to consider itself as an Indo-Pacific country, he continued: “I think it is wrong for France to position itself in this way, because it is a confrontational mentality, a Cold War mentality, and that is exactly what we are against.”

His comments underline Beijing’s hardening view of both the Indo-Pacific idea as well as regional groupings such as the Quad. China officially does not use the term, and refers to the region as the Asia-Pacific.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who initially dismissed the Quad as an idea that was as transient “as sea foam”, also struck a harder tone earlier this year, when he equated the U.S., Australia, India, Japan Quad grouping with the “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance involving the Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the U.S. and U.K. and the AUKUS (Australia-U.K.-U.S.) defence pact.

“The U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy is becoming a byword for bloc politics,” he said during China’s annual Parliament session. “It professes desire for international cooperation, but in reality is stoking regional rivalry. From Five Eyes and Quad to AUKUS…. It is by no means a blessing but a sinister move. The real goal for the Indo-Pacific strategy is to establish an Indo-Pacific version of NATO.”