According to Vojtěch Filip, Chairman of the Board of the Czech-Chinese Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, we are facing a crucial negotiation on the Indo-Pacific region. While China's priorities are clear, the fundamental problem remains the unwillingness of the US to accept the equal status of other sovereign states.
According to Vojtěch Filip, the upcoming APEC summit in Shenzhen, China, will be a key moment for the entire Indo-Pacific region. The former deputy speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament and current chairman of the board of the Czech-Chinese Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry sees a major clash between the two global players.
„We are currently facing a crucial APEC meeting, the Indo-Pacific negotiations, where the interests of not only the G20, but especially the PRC and the US are clashing,“ said Filip.
According to Filip, China is well prepared for this meeting. „In the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, there are already clear priorities for development both in the energy sector and especially in the environmental sector, which is not yet being addressed at the level the region deserves,“ he said, adding that China is coming up with a concrete vision.
Filip identified the divergent positions of the two superpowers as a major problem. „But the problem remains that the People's Republic of China does not yet share the same view as the United States and the dispute will not be resolved without negotiations,“ he explained.
Filip expressed doubts about the United States' readiness for the new reality in the region. „I don't know how prepared the United States is for the new interests that both the People's Republic of China and India, but also other countries in the region, will have.“ he said.
At the same time, he strongly rejected the possibility of a military solution to the clashes. „These things cannot and cannot be solved militarily, they can only be solved politically and economically, and I hope that the APEC meeting will help to do that.“ Filip said.
He considers the root of the problem to be the attitude of the United States towards other countries. „What is perhaps the fundamental problem in this matter is precisely the unwillingness of the US to recognize that the interests of China, India and other countries in the region are the interests of sovereign states and it cannot be the case that America comes first,“ Filip concluded, adding that without the recognition of equality, it will be impossible to find a long-term sustainable solution.
The APEC Summit, which will take place on 18 and 19 November in Shenzhen, will thus not only be a platform for economic cooperation, but also an important test of the ability of global powers to find common ground.
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