Blinken Applauds Diplomacy at ASEAN Meeting

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticised Beijing's "escalating and unlawful actions" in the South China Sea at a summit on Saturday, while his Russian counterpart said Washington has stoked anxiety with its plan for a nuclear deterrence with ally Seoul for the Korean peninsula.

Blinken singled out China over its coast guard's hostile actions against U.S. defence treaty ally the Philippines in the South China Sea.

But he also lauded the two countries for their diplomacy after Manila completed a resupply mission earlier on Saturday to troops at a disputed shoal, unimpeded by China.

Blinken was attending the security-focused ASEAN Regional Forum alongside diplomats of major powers including Russia, India, China, Australia, Japan and the EU, which included discussions on the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, North Korea's nuclear ambitions and tension in the South China Sea.

The Philippines' small troop presence on a grounded former U.S. navy ship at the Second Thomas Shoal has angered China for years. The countries have been involved in repeated altercations, causing regional concern about an escalation that could potentially lead to U.S. intervention.

The two sides this week reached an arrangement over how to conduct those missions.

"We are pleased to take note of the successful resupply today of the Second Thomas shoal," Blinken told foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the host of the meetings in Laos.

"We applaud that and hope and expect to see that it continues going forward."

Blinken held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the gathering, in their sixth meeting since June 2023, when Blinken's visit to Beijing marked an improvement in strained ties between the world's two biggest economies.

Blinken discussed Taiwan with Wang and concerns about Beijing's recent "provocative actions", included a simulated blockade during the inauguration of Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, a senior U.S. State Department official said.

They agreed to continue progress on military-to-military ties, the official said, adding Blinken also discussed Beijing's support for Russia's defence industrial base and warned of further U.S. action against Chinese firms, but received no commitment from Wang.

Wang told Blinken that although communications had been maintained between China and the United States, Washington had not stopped its containment and suppression of Beijing and had even intensified it.

"The risks facing Sino-U.S. relations are still accumulating and the challenges are rising and ties are at a critical juncture of halting their decline and achieving stability," he said, according to a foreign ministry statement.

RUSSIA SAYS U.S. 'ENFLAMING ATMOSPHERE'

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on the sidelines of the forum that guidelines on the operation of U.S. nuclear assets on the Korean peninsula, officially aimed at establishing an integrated deterrence to North Korean threats, were adding to regional security concerns.

"So far we can't even get an explanation of what this means, but there is no doubt that it causes additional anxiety," Russia's state-run RIA new agency quoted Lavrov as saying.

"They are actively inflaming the atmosphere around the Korean peninsula, militarising their presence there and conducting exercises that are frankly aimed at being ready for military action," he said, according to Interfax.

Blinken said earlier the United States was "working intensely every single day" to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and find a path to more enduring peace and security.

His remarks followed those of Retno Marsudi, the foreign minister of Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority nation, who said the need for sustainable peace was urgent.

Retno also said international law should be applied to all, a veiled reference to recent decisions by two international courts over Israeli's Gaza offensives.

"We cannot continue closing our eyes to see the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza," Retno said.

The fighting has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians in Gaza since Israel launched its incursion, according to Palestinian health authorities, who do not distinguish between fighters and non-combatants.

Israeli officials estimate that 14,000 fighters from militant groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have been killed or captured, out of an estimated force of more than 25,000 at the start of the war, which began when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and abducting 250 others, according to Israeli tallies.

'THIS IS NOT SUSTAINABLE'

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong urged Myanmar's military rulers to take a different path and end an intensifying civil war, pressing the generals to abide by their commitment to follow ASEAN's peace plan.

The conflict pits Myanmar's well-equipped military against a loose alliance of ethnic minority rebel groups and an armed resistance movement that has been gaining ground and testing the generals' ability to govern.

The junta has largely ignored the peace effort, and ASEAN has hit a wall as all sides refuse to enter into dialogue.

"We see the instability, the insecurity, the deaths, the pain that is being caused by the conflict," Wong told reporters.

"My message from Australia to the regime is, this is not sustainable for you or for your people."

An estimated 2.6 million people have been displaced by fighting. The junta has been condemned for its air strikes on civilian areas and accused of atrocities, which it has dismissed as Western disinformation.

ASEAN issued a communique on Saturday stressing it was united behind its peace plan and condemned violence against civilians, urging all sides in Myanmar to end hostilities and start dialogue.

ASEAN also welcomed unspecified practical measures to reduce tension in the South China Sea and prevent accidents and miscalculations, while urging all stakeholders to halt actions that could complicate and escalate disputes.

(Reuters - Reporting by Simon Lewis in Vientiane; Additional reporting by Neil Jerome Morales in Manila, Kevin Yao and Ryan Woo in Beijing, Jack Kim in Seoul and Maxim Rodionov; Writing and additional reporting by Martin Petty; Editing by William Mallard and Andrew Heavens)