U.S. President Joe Biden’s warning of unspecified consequences if China supports Russia has smaller Asian nations worried they’ll be subject to similar penalties for maintaining neutrality over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Southeast Asia will host two meetings later this year — the Group of 20 summit and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) — that would normally bring Biden, Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping under one roof. And the two countries set to host them — Indonesia and Thailand — are starting to worry about getting caught in the middle, even though the summits are months away and it isn’t even clear if Putin would turn up.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has privately expressed concern about the U.S. threats of secondary sanctions against China because leaders in Jakarta see Beijing’s stance on the war as neutral, according to a person familiar with the situation, who asked not to be identified.