US Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticized Beijing's “escalating and unlawful actions” within the South China Sea at a summit on Saturday, while his Russian counterpart said Washington had stoked fears with its nuclear deterrence plan with ally Seoul over the Korean peninsula.
Blinken accused China of paying particular attention to its coast guard's hostile actions against the Philippines, a U.S. ally within the South China Sea.
But he also praised the 2 countries for his or her diplomacy after Manila Supply mission had previously been sent to troops in a disputed shoal on Saturday without hindrance from China.
Blinken, together with diplomats from major powers equivalent to Russia, India, China, Australia, Japan and the EU, participated within the security-focused ASEAN Regional Forum, which also addressed the conflicts in Gaza And UkraineNorth Korea's nuclear ambitions and tensions within the South China Sea.
The Philippines' small troop presence on a stranded former US naval vessel within the Second Thomas Reef has angered China for years. The countries are in repeated disputeswhich raised concerns within the region about an escalation that might potentially result in US intervention.
The two sides reached this week an agreement about how these missions must be carried out.
“We are pleased to note today the successful re-supply of the second Thomas Reef,” Blinken told foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which hosted the meetings in Laos.
“We welcome this and hope and expect that it will continue this way in the future.”
On the sidelines of the meeting, Blinken held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. It was their sixth meeting since June 2023, when Blinken's visit to Beijing marked an improvement in strained relations between the world's two largest economies.
Blinken spoke with Wang about Taiwan and expressed concern about Beijing's recent “provocative actions,” which included a simulated blockade throughout the inauguration of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, a senior U.S. State Department official said.
They agreed to proceed to advance military-to-military relations, the official said, adding that Blinken also discussed Beijing's support for the Russian arms industry and warned against further US motion against Chinese firms, but received no commitment from Wang.
Wang told Blinken that while communication between China and the United States had been maintained, Washington had not stopped its containment and suppression of Beijing, but had in reality intensified it.
“The risks to China-US relations continue to increase, the challenges are mounting, and the relationship is at a critical turning point where it must halt its decline and achieve stability,” he said, based on a Foreign Ministry statement.
Russia: USA is stirring up “the atmosphere”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on the sidelines of the forum: Guidelines in regards to the deployment of American nuclear facilities on the Korean peninsula, which officially serves to create an integrated deterrent against threats from North Korea, increased security concerns within the region.
“So far we have not even received an explanation of what this means, but there is no doubt that it causes additional concern,” Russian state news agency RIA quoted Lavrov as saying.
“They are actively stirring up tensions around the Korean peninsula, militarizing their presence there and conducting exercises that, frankly, are aimed at being ready for military action,” he said, based on Interfax.
Blinken had previously stated that the United States was “working hard every single day” to realize a ceasefire in Gaza and discover a path to more lasting peace and security.
His comments followed those of Retno Marsudi, the foreign minister of Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country, who said lasting peace was urgently needed.
Retno also said international law must apply to everyone, a veiled reference to recent rulings by two international courts on Israel's Gaza offensive.
“We can no longer close our eyes to the terrible humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip,” Retno said.
According to Palestinian health authorities, which don’t distinguish between combatants and non-combatants, greater than 39,000 Palestinians have died in fighting within the Gaza Strip for the reason that Israeli invasion began.
Israeli authorities estimate that 14,000 fighters from militant groups equivalent to Hamas and Islamic Jihad were killed or captured. At the start of the war, the terrorists' force was estimated to have numbered greater than 25,000 men. The war began on October 7 with an attack by Hamas-led fighters on Israel. According to Israeli sources, the fighters killed 1,200 people and abducted 250 others.
“This is not sustainable”
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong called on Myanmar's military leadership to take a distinct path and end the deepening civil war, urging the generals to stick with their commitment to follow ASEAN rules. Peace plan.
The conflict pits Myanmar’s well-equipped military against a Loose alliance by ethnic minority rebel groups and an armed resistance movement that’s gaining ground and testing the generals' ability to manipulate.
The junta has largely ignored peace efforts and ASEAN has hit a wall as all sides refuse to enter into dialogue.
“We see the instability, the insecurity, the deaths, the suffering that the conflict is causing,” Wong told reporters.
“My message from Australia to the regime is: This is not sustainable for you or your people.”
An estimated 2.6 million people have been displaced by the fighting. The junta has been condemned for its air strikes on civilian areas and accused of atrocities that it dismissed as Western disinformation.
ASEAN issued a communiqué on Saturday stressing its unanimous support for the peace plan and condemning violence against civilians. It called on all sides in Myanmar to finish hostilities and interact in dialogue.
ASEAN also welcomed unspecified practical measures to scale back tensions within the South China Sea and avoid accidents and miscalculations, while urging all parties to refrain from actions that might complicate and escalate disputes.
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