Vientiane (AFP) – The United States hailed “open and productive” discussions between China’s foreign minister and Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Laos on Saturday, in which Blinken raised US concerns over Beijing’s “provocative actions” around Taiwan. Blinken’s stop in Laos is part of a multi-nation Asia visit aimed at reinforcing regional ties in the face of Beijing’s growing assertiveness, including in the South China Sea, and its deepening ties with Moscow. The talks on the sidelines of a foreign ministers meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) lasted for one hour and twenty minutes, according to a senior State Department official.
Blinken raised “US concerns about provocative actions” by China, including a simulated blockade of Taiwan following the May inauguration of its new president, Lai Ching-te. China claims the democratic island as its territory and slammed Lai’s inauguration speech as a “confession of independence.” China’s foreign ministry was yet to release a statement on the meeting. Shortly before the meeting, Blinken hit out at Beijing’s “escalatory and unlawful actions” in the South China Sea, where China and the Philippines are locked in a territorial dispute.
Beijing claims the waterway — through which trillions of dollars of trade passes annually — almost in its entirety despite an international court ruling that its assertion has no legal basis. A Filipino sailor lost a thumb in the latest June 17 confrontation when Chinese coast guard members wielding knives, sticks, and an axe foiled a Philippine Navy attempt to resupply its troops. The clashes have fueled fears of a conflict that could drag in the United States due to its mutual defense treaty with Manila. On Saturday, Manila said it had successfully resupplied troops on the Second Thomas Shoal — the focus of clashes in recent months — under a deal agreed with Beijing.
On Friday, Wang called on the Philippines to “honour its commitments” under the deal rather than “backtracking or creating complications,” warning that Beijing would “respond resolutely” to any violation. Wang also warned the Philippines over deploying a US medium-range missile system on its soil, saying it would “create tension and confrontation in the region and trigger an arms race.” The US Army said in April it had deployed the Mid-Range Capability missile system in the northern Philippines for annual joint military exercises. Philippines military officials later said the system would be removed from the country.
Blinken arrived in Laos two days after the foreign ministers of China and Russia met with the 10-nation ASEAN bloc — and each other on the sidelines of the meeting. On Thursday, Wang met Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Vientiane and discussed “building a new security architecture for Eurasia,” according to Moscow’s foreign ministry. The pair also agreed to jointly “counter any attempts by extra-regional forces to interfere in Southeast Asian affairs,” it said. China has a strong political and economic partnership with Russia, with NATO members labeling Beijing as a “key facilitator” of Moscow’s involvement in the war in Ukraine.
A joint communique released by ASEAN on Saturday expressed the bloc’s “deep concern over the escalation of conflicts” in member-state Myanmar. The country has been ravaged by violence since the military seized power in 2021, sparking renewed fighting with established ethnic minority armed groups and dozens of newer “People’s Defence Forces.” ASEAN has spearheaded so far unsuccessful diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis, with a five-point peace plan agreed between the junta and the bloc now moribund. The five-point consensus “remains our main reference to address the political crisis,” the joint communique said.
Myanmar’s junta has been banned from high-level ASEAN summits over its coup and crackdown on dissent, in which rights groups say it may have committed war crimes. Two senior bureaucrats represented Myanmar at the Laos talks. The military’s readiness to re-engage with ASEAN diplomatically was a “sign of the junta’s weakened position,” a Southeast Asian diplomat told AFP earlier this week.
© 2024 AFP
