Hosting East Asia Summit, Indonesia President Widodo Urges Commitment to Peace and Cooperation

Sept. 7, 2025, 2022 (EIRNS)—The East Asia Summit was convened today in Jakarta, chaired by Indonesian President Joko Widodo. It included two groups, the ten nation members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus China, Japan, and South Korea (ASEAN+3) and five Indo-Pacific nations—India, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, and the United States. U.S. President Joe Biden never intended to show up, about which there was a lot of unfavorable commentary; Vice President Kamala Harris came in his place. In his opening remarks, President Widodo strongly urged attendees not to create conflicts, but to ease tensions.

Kamala Harris and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida didn’t get the message and opted for geopolitical confrontation. They tried their best to derail the discussion into subjects that had nothing to do with the regional agenda, but no one took the bait. For the most part, Widodo’s message of cooperation prevailed. As Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted, such antics are tiresome. People want to work on real problems.

Everyone in this room, said Widodo, “has the same responsibility to not create new conflict, to not create new tension, to not create new wars. At the same time, we have the responsibility to lower heated tensions, to thaw frozen state of affairs, to create room for dialogue, to bridge existing differences.... Essentially we acknowledge stability and peace as the main key to achieve prosperity.”

And, Widodo emphasized, “ASEAN is steadfast in making this vision an epicentrum of growth, and therefore ASEAN will continue to work to play a role as country leaders.” To the leaders attending, he said: “ASEAN will really appreciate that if this East Asia Summit can agree on a leaders’ statement and its determination as the epicentrum of growth.” The international community will assess “if we are leaders with the wisdom to make the world a better place for all. I thank once again the leaders of the East Asia Summit for making this forum for us to strengthen the cooperation. I call on all leaders to show the wisdom, to show the leadership for the success of this.” He added: “And the world community will judge whether we are leaders who have the wisdom to make the world a better place for all.”