The US and China air global differences as their top diplomats meet

By Matthew Lee | Associated Press

VIENTIANE, Laos — The United States and China on Saturday renewed their mutual grievances as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Chinese counterpart held their sixth meeting since last year amid an uncertain political situation in the U.S. and growing concerns about China’s increasing assertiveness in Asia and elsewhere.

Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met for roughly an hour and 20 minutes on the sidelines of an annual Southeast Asian regional security forum in Vientiane, Laos, at which tensions between China and U.S. ally Philippines over disputes in the South China Sea were a prime focus of discussion.

U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Blinken and Wang had had “an open and productive” discussion but had not reached any significant agreements on the issues that divide them most in the Indo-Pacific, Europe and the Americas.

“The United States will continue to take necessary actions to safeguard our interests and values, and those of our allies and partners, including on human rights,” Blinken told Wang, according to Miller.

Blinken “made clear that the United States, together with our allies and partners, will advance our vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific,” he said, highlighting recently aggressive Chinese actions toward Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing claims as part of the mainland and has vowed to reunify by force if necessary.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement that despite regular contacts, “the U.S. has not stopped its containment and suppression of China and has even further intensified it.” The statement said the risks to China-U.S. ties “are still accumulating and the challenges are also rising” and that “it is necessary to constantly calibrate the direction, manage risks, properly handle differences, eliminate disturbance and promote cooperation.”

Blinken scolded China for “destabilizing actions in the South China Sea” and “affirmed the United States’ support for freedom of navigation and overflight and the peaceful resolution of disputes, consistent with international law,” Miller said.

America’s top diplomat did praise China and the Philippines for concluding an agreement earlier this week that allowed the Philippines on Saturday to make a supply trip to the disputed area without having to confront Beijing’s forces, the first such trip since the deal was concluded.

“We are pleased to take note of the successful resupply today at the Second Thomas Shoal,” Blinken told Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers before his meeting with Wang. “We applaud that and hope and expect to see that it continues going forward.”

Prior to the deal, tensions between the Philippines and China escalated for months, with China’s coast guard and other forces using powerful water cannons and dangerous blocking maneuvers to prevent food and other supplies from reaching Filipino navy personnel.

Still, Blinken, who will be in Manila next week as part of his current six-country tour of Asia, also deplored China’s “escalatory and unlawful actions taken against the Philippines in the South China Sea over the last few months.”

In his meeting with Wang, Blinken also re-raised deep U.S. and European concerns about China’s support of Russia’s defense industrial sector that Washington and capitals in Europe believe Russia is using to ramp up the production of weapons for use in its war against Ukraine.

Blinken “made clear that if (China) does not act to address this threat to European security, the United States will continue to take appropriate measures to do so,” Miller said. Since that warning was first issued more than a year ago, the U.S. and others have imposed sanctions on more than 300 Russian and Chinese firms engaged in the trade.

Asked whether the Chinese had responded to those sanctions in the way the U.S. and its allies would like, a senior State Department official said “not enough that our concerns have been put to rest.” The official spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss the private diplomatic meeting.

Blinken’s Asia trip was announced just hours after President Joe Biden said he would step down as a candidate in November’s election in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris. Although the senior official said that decision had not come up in Saturday’s meetings, he said Blinken had pointed out to Wang that Harris had experience with China and had met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Bangkok in 2022.

Also present at the ASEAN meeting in Laos was Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, but the senior official said Blinken had no interactions with him.

From Laos, Blinken flew to Hanoi for a brief stop to offer condolences for the passing last week of Vietnam’s powerful Communist Party chief and was to travel on to Japan, the Philippines, Singapore and Mongolia.

In Tokyo and Manila on Sunday and Monday, Blinken will be joined by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin where they will meet with their Japanese and Filipino counterparts to shore up defense cooperation. Blinken will also meet in Tokyo with the Indian and South Korean foreign ministers.