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, the official said.
China claims the democratic island as its territory and slammed Lai’s inauguration speech as ‘confession of independence.’
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.
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 Russia 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 labelling Beijing as a ‘key facilitator’ of Moscow’s involvement in the war in Ukraine.