EU announces new Indo-Pacific strategy - China.org.cn

The European Union (EU) on Thursday unveiled a new strategy for enhancing its economic, political and defense existence in the Indo-Pacific region, vowing to cooperate with all actors in the region and seek no confrontation.

According to the adopted Joint Communication on the EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, the Indo-Pacific region's growing economic, demographic, and political weight makes it a key player in shaping the international order and in addressing global challenges.

The EU intends to increase its engagement with the region to build partnerships that reinforce the rules-based international order, address global challenges and lay the foundations for a rapid, just and sustainable economic recovery that creates long-term prosperity.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told a press conference that the EU will seek no confrontation but cooperation with everybody, and the strategy is inclusive to all actors in the region.

Borrell said in a statement issued later that "The world's center of gravity is moving towards the Indo Pacific, both in geo-economic and geo-political terms. The futures of the EU and the Indo-Pacific are interlinked."

"Our engagement aims at maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific for all, while building strong and lasting partnerships to cooperate on matters from the green transition, ocean governance or the digital agenda to security and defense," he said.