TOKYO: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine risks escalating into another world war, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad warned at Nikkei’s Future of Asia conference today.
“I am afraid that wars have a habit of beginning small and then grow into world wars,” he said on the second day of the event in Tokyo.
The veteran politician emphasised the need to resolve the conflict through dialogue, while criticising Nato’s supply of weapons to Ukraine, suggesting Western allies run the risk of pushing Russia into a decision to expand the war and other countries may be involved.
The Russia-Ukraine war should not have happened “in our age”, Mahathir said.
In a call to learn from history, he said the international community witnessed the destruction of World War II but said the lessons are “almost forgotten”. Now 96, Mahathir was 20 years old when WWII ended.
The Future of Asia is Nikkei’s flagship annual conference. This year’s theme is “redefining Asia’s role in a divided world”, with other speakers on the second day including Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The annual event opened on Thursday with addresses from Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and others.
Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd said in a video link that in the face of China’s increasing clout in the Asia-Pacific region, other countries should seek better engagement rather than lecturing small island states.
His appearance came as Beijing makes its presence felt in the Pacific, after sealing a controversial security deal with the Solomon Islands in April.
Rudd said Pacific islands are sovereign states and have a right to “do as they wish”. The way forward for Western allies like Australia, New Zealand and the US, he stressed, is not to deliver them a “moral lecture” but to offer different, better, development-friendly proposals.
He warned that China is showing “a much more assertive leadership style and intends, therefore, to change the status quo by adopting a more assertive foreign security policy in the region and the world”.
The growing tensions pose dangerous risks, suggested Rudd, who led Australia from 2007 to 2010 and again in 2013.
“The US-China relationship reflected in multiple theaters across Asia is one of push and shove, without any guarantee that this pushing and shoving will not result in crisis escalation, conflict and war,” he said.
On Thursday, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi visited the Solomon Islands as part of a 10-day trip that also included six more Pacific Island nations and East Timor.
There is speculation that China looks to unveil a so-called Common Development Vision, which would include 10 of the 14 Pacific Island nations that have diplomatic ties with Beijing, at a joint meeting of foreign ministers in Fiji on Monday. - FMT
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