Beijing’s message for Asean – China doesn’t want to become a regional hegemon

In comments directed at Asean, a top Communist Party official reiterated that Beijing did not want to become a regional hegemon, while vowing to strengthen its energy cooperation with the Southeast Asian bloc.“For a country like China, which has ‘harmonious coexistence’ embedded in its DNA, it is extremely difficult to undergo a ‘genetic mutation’ and become a militaristic hegemony that bullies the small and weak,” said Sun Haiyan, deputy head of the party’s International Department.Sun, who handles party-to-party diplomacy, was speaking at the Asean-summit" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="156764" data-entity-type="event">Greater Bay Area-Asean summit in Shenzhen, southern China’s Guangdong province, on Wednesday.