VIENTIANE, Laos (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Southeast Asian leaders on Friday that the United States is warning China’s "increasingly dangerous and illegal” activities in the disputed South China Sea during an annual summit. The United States is concerned about this, and pledged to continue to do so. Protecting freedom of navigation on important maritime trade routes.
His comments at a meeting with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations drew immediate condemnation from Beijing, which blames the waterway’s instability on the US and other military presence from outside the region. This is a claim that the Chinese government makes almost entirely.
In addition to Taiwan, China has overlapping territorial claims with ASEAN members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei. Approximately one-third of world trade travels by sea, and the country is also rich in fisheries, gas, and oil. A series of recent violent clashes between China and the Philippines, as well as Vietnam, have raised concerns that China’s increasingly aggressive behavior at sea could escalate into a full-scale conflict. There is.
Beijing has refused to recognize a 2016 international arbitration ruling by a U.N.-affiliated tribunal in The Hague, invalidating a wide range of its claims and building and militarizing Chinese-controlled islands.
Blinken, acting on behalf of President Joe Biden, said: “China’s increasingly dangerous and illegal activities in the South China Sea are injuring people, damaging ASEAN ships, and violating commitments to peaceful resolution of disputes. I am very concerned about this.” His opening speech at the US-ASEAN Summit. “The United States continues to support freedom of navigation and overflight in the Indo-Pacific.”
Although the United States has no territorial claims in the South China Sea, it has dispatched naval vessels and fighter jets to patrol the area in response to China’s territorial claims.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in Beijing that the US and other military presence from outside the region is the main cause of maritime instability.
“The increased military deployment and activities in the South China Sea by the United States and some other non-regional countries are inciting conflicts and creating tension, and are the biggest source of instability for peace and stability in the South China Sea,” Mao said. “There is,” he said.
Chinese and Philippine vessels have clashed repeatedly this year, and Vietnam announced last week that Chinese troops had attacked its own fishermen in disputed waters. China has also sent patrol vessels to areas that Indonesia and Malaysia claim as their exclusive economic zones.
The United States has repeatedly warned that it has an obligation to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if its military, ships and aircraft come under armed attack, including in the South China Sea.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told summit leaders on Thursday that his country “continues to be subjected to harassment and intimidation” by China’s actions, which he said violate international law. He called for further expediting negotiations between ASEAN and China on a code of conduct for governing the South China Sea. Officials have agreed to complete the agreement by 2026, but talks have been stalled by thorny issues, including disagreements over whether the agreement should be binding.
In another firm message to China, Blinken said the United States is also committed to safeguarding stability in the Taiwan Strait. The United States has stepped up support for Taiwan in recent years, with new military funding last month prompting protests from China, which claims the self-governing island as its own territory.
Blinken also attended the 18-nation East Asia Summit, along with the Chinese prime minister, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and the leaders of Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.
ASEAN has carefully approached maritime disputes with China, the region’s largest trading partner and third-largest investor. Trade relations have not deteriorated, and both countries are focused on expanding their free trade area, which covers a market of 2 billion people.
Blinken said the annual ASEAN summit is a platform to address other common challenges, including the civil war in Myanmar, North Korea’s “destabilizing actions” and Russia’s war aggression in Ukraine. . As Monday marks the first anniversary of the war, pro-Palestinian and Islamic countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia have repeatedly called for an immediate Israeli ceasefire, and the Middle East crisis has also been raised.
Blinken also said there were “clear and just” reasons for Israel’s escalation in Hezbollah attacks in Lebanon, but said the United States was trying to find a diplomatic solution to the war. He said it was also important that civilian peacekeepers must be protected by all parties to the conflict, and that what had happened was clearly reprehensible, adding that the fighting in Lebanon and Gaza He added that not enough humanitarian aid was reaching northern Gaza and other areas. .
UN Secretary-General António Guterres held separate talks with ASEAN leaders and called for an urgent political solution to the growing Middle East conflict. “The level of death and destruction in Gaza cannot be compared to any other situation I have ever seen,” he said. He also condemned the attack on two Indonesian peacekeepers who were injured by Israeli artillery fire, saying: “Peacekeepers must be protected by all parties to the conflict.”
Mr. Guterres also expressed deep concern over the worsening crisis in Myanmar and called on ASEAN to work with the UN envoy to find a way out. He said a third of Myanmar’s population is in dire need of humanitarian assistance and has been devastated by civil war since the military ousted the elected government in 2021 and refused to abide by the ASEAN peace plan. He said approximately 3.5 million people were displaced.
