FM welcomes US-led Pacific investment

China said Tuesday it was good if the US, Japan and Australia were willing to increase investment in regional infrastructure, while it hoped the three could take more real actions after such proposals had been repeatedly announced as part of an "Indo-Pacific Strategy."

Foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told a media briefing Tuesday that China would adhere to principles of openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation and work with other countries to boost regional economic development. China welcomes countries to participate in the Belt and Road initiative, said Geng.

Geng's remarks followed reports that the US, Japan and Australia agreed to invest in infrastructure projects in the "Indo-Pacific," a move that some Western media speculated as running counter to China's rising influence in the region.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Monday $113 million in new technology, energy and infrastructure initiatives in emerging Asia, Reuters reported.

"These funds represent just a down payment on a new era in US economic commitment to peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region," Pompeo was quoted as saying. He said Washington wanted a "free and open" Asia not dominated by any one country.

Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University's Institute of International Relations, told the Global Times that the US perception of China using the Belt and Road initiative to challenge the US hegemony would not change for a long time.

"The US always believes that the world must have a hegemon, and China wants to be it by transforming the current world system," Li said.

China has reiterated that the Belt and Road initiative is for mutually beneficial economic cooperation, and China has no geopolitical calculations.

Nearly 90 countries and international organizations have signed Belt and Road initiative cooperation agreements with China. China has invested $70 billion in Belt and Road projects in other countries, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in early July.