The United States hailed “open and productive” discussions between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Laos on Saturday, as the pair touched on divisive issues including Taiwan and the South China Sea.
“We are pleased to take note of the successful resupply today of the Second Thomas Shoal, which is the product of an agreement reached between the Philippines and China,” Blinken told Asean foreign ministers gathered in Laotian capital Vientiane.
“We applaud that and hope and expect to see that it continues going forward.” […]
The US Navy’s regular “freedom of navigation” operations in the South China Sea are opposed by Beijing, which was also angered by the deployment in April of the US intermediate-range Typhon missile system in the northern Philippines.
Earlier this month, the Philippine military announced that the system would be returned to the US in September “as per plan”.
Also meeting his Philippine counterpart Enrique Manalo on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers’ meeting, Wang warned against deploying the missile system, saying that it could trigger a regional “arms race”. Läs artikel