Jakarta. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned his Indonesian counterpart Sugiono about unilateral oppression during high-level diplomatic talks, in an indirect jab at the US.

The chief diplomats had just wrapped up their maiden “comprehensive strategic dialogue” in Jakarta on Friday. Speaking through an interpreter, Wang Yi told Sugiono that the world had become “fluid” and “turbulent”.

“We are seeing unilateralism and hegemonism. They have dealt a heavy blow to this world, as well as to the global development agenda,” Wang said at the opening session of the talks.

The session saw Wang calling Jakarta “a priority” in Beijing’s “neighborhood policy”. The rest of the meeting took place behind closed doors, but Wang also once again called out unilateralism during the press conference later that day. He even went on to say that both sides have agreed to join forces “to combat unilateral oppression and power politics”.

Sugiono did not make a specific mention of the warnings in either session, as he preferred to focus his attention on the bilateral aspect.

"We have identified new areas of cooperation and addressed the challenges that we come across," Sugiono said, while adding that they had agreed to beef up trade.

This is not the first time for Beijing to indirectly slam Washington when engaging with its allies. Beijing even framed US President Donald Trump’s tariff assault as “economic bullying”. Despite the bitter relations, the US recently urged China to join its campaign of economically isolating Iran as talks stall, an offer that Beijing had turned down. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian recently told reporters that “sanctions and pressure tactics are not the solution”.

Indonesia has embraced the so-called “free and active” foreign policy, as Jakarta chooses not to take sides in the US-China rivalry. Jakarta is actively trading and pursuing defense cooperation with both camps.

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