China's practical cooperation with Indonesia and other regional countries has contributed greatly to the region's peace and development, said Indonesian expert Veronika Saraswati.

SINGAPORE, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Peace and development in the Asia-Pacific region should be built on win-win cooperation instead of military deterrence, an Indonesian expert has said.

China's practical cooperation with Indonesia and other regional countries has contributed greatly to the region's peace and development, said Veronika Saraswati, director of the Indonesia-China Partnership Studies Institute, in a recent interview with Xinhua.

China has never engaged in the colonization of other nations. On the contrary, China itself suffered from colonialism in the 19th and early 20th century, the expert noted. "This shared experience has fostered solidarity between China and developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America," she said.

Noting that China has long been Indonesia's largest trading partner, with fruitful cooperation in infrastructure, digital economy and other fields, she said, "Any rhetoric or action that undermines Indonesia-China relations would directly harm Indonesia's own development interests."

"Over the past two decades, China has become an indispensable node in global supply chains, and cooperation between regional countries and China is crucial for maintaining stability and prosperity in Asia-Pacific," she said.

On the issue of how to ensure long-term stability in the Asia-Pacific region, Saraswati described the Western concept of "peace through strength" as a profound paradox.

"Throughout history, no lasting peace has ever been achieved through war," she stressed, adding that the approach to seek security via military deterrence will inevitably lead to arms races and heighten tensions.

Moreover, Saraswati said that the idea that military deterrence serves as a "path to peace" is a narrative designed to justify the interests of the war industry of certain countries. "Behind the rhetoric of 'peace' lies a vast war economy," Saraswati said.

In contrast, she said, China's approach is aimed at fostering longstanding peace. "True stability comes from trust-building, economic interdependence, and conflict resolution mechanisms, not zero-sum confrontation," she said.

Saraswati strongly opposed the framing of regional security as a game between powers. "This Cold War mentality disrespects the strategic autonomy of ASEAN nations. Indonesia, for instance, pursues an independent foreign policy and refuses to be a proxy in great-power rivalry," she said.

"ASEAN aims to become the world's fourth-largest economy by 2030, which requires stability and connectivity, not bloc confrontation. China's model of shared development, not military coercion, is the path to lasting peace," she added.