EU forum puts crucial Indo-Pacific region squarely on radar

By MASHA MACPHERSON
Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — Foreign ministers from Indo-Pacific nations have attended a Paris conference aimed at bringing the region squarely into Europe’s focus in a rapidly changing world with rising security challenges. New Zealand, India, South Korea, Japan and a clutch of other Asian nations were represented at Tuesday’s forum. China was not invited. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said China was not being slighted, and the European Union’s Indo-Pacific strategy “is not against anyone.” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called the region an “aorta” for Europe, with 40% of the EU’s trade passing through the region’s waters. Le Drian acknowledged concern over an emerging alliance between Russia and China “which is clearly defying the multilateral order.”