US Secretary of State Antony Blinken slammed Beijing for its “escalating and unlawful actions” in the South China Sea at a summit on Saturday, while Russia’s foreign minister said Washington was causing concern over its plans to pursue a nuclear deterrence strategy with its allies in Seoul on the Korean peninsula.
Blinken criticized China specifically for its coast guard’s hostile actions toward the Philippines in the South China Sea. Manila is a U.S. ally under a defense treaty.
However, he also praised the two countries' diplomacy after Manila successfully completed a resupply mission for troops on the disputed shoal earlier Saturday, without interference from China.
Blinken attended the security-focused ASEAN Regional Forum with diplomats from major powers including Russia, India, China, Australia, Japan and the European Union, which included discussions on the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, North Korea's nuclear ambitions and tensions in the South China Sea.
The presence of a small number of Philippine troops on a former US Navy ship that ran aground on Second Thomas Shoal has irked China for years. The two countries have repeatedly sparred, raising regional concerns about an escalation that could lead to US intervention.
The two sides this week reached an agreement on how to carry out the mission.
“We are pleased to see the success of today's resupply at Second Thomas Shoal,” Blinken told foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which hosted the meeting in Laos.
“We appreciate those efforts and hope they continue in the future,” Blinken said.
Blinken held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the meeting. It was their sixth meeting since June 2023, when Blinken visited Beijing as relations between the world's two largest economies were heating up.
Blinken discussed Taiwan with Wang and expressed concerns about Beijing's recent “provocative actions,” including a simulated blockade during the inauguration of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, a senior State Department official said.
They agreed to continue developing military-to-military ties, the official said. The official also said Blinken discussed Beijing’s support for Russia’s defense industry and warned of further U.S. action against Chinese companies, but did not get any commitments from Wang.
Wang told Blinken that despite the communication between China and the US, Washington has not stopped its containment and suppression of Beijing, but has instead strengthened it.
“The risks facing China-US relations are still increasing and challenges are mounting and relations are at a critical juncture to stop the decline and achieve stability,” he said, according to a foreign ministry statement.
Cloudy Atmosphere
On the sidelines of the forum, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the guidelines on the operation of US nuclear assets on the Korean peninsula, which are officially intended to build a unified deterrence against North Korean threats, actually add to regional security concerns.
“So far we have not even been able to get an explanation of what this means, but there is no doubt that this causes additional anxiety,” Russia's state-run news agency, RIAciting Lavrov's statement.
“They are actively agitating the situation around the Korean peninsula, militarizing their presence there and conducting exercises that are frankly aimed at preparing for military action,” he said, according to Interfax.
Blinken previously said the US was “working hard every day” to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and find a path to more lasting peace and security. (ah/ft)
