(Vientiane) Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday urged his US counterpart Antony Blinken “not to fan the flames” in the territorial dispute between Beijing and Manila in the South China Sea.
Confrontations between China and the Philippines have escalated in recent months, particularly around Second Thomas Atoll, where Filipino soldiers are stationed on a naval vessel that Manila deliberately ran aground in 1999 to assert its sovereignty claims.
Despite the tensions, Beijing and Manila held talks in July and reached a “provisional arrangement” for the resupply of Philippine troops on the atoll.
“The United States should not fan the flames, stir up trouble and undermine stability at sea,” Wang told Blinken on Saturday during a meeting in Vientiane, Laos.
“The Philippines must keep its word and stop sending construction materials” to Second Thomas, the Chinese foreign minister stressed, according to a statement released by his ministry.
Beijing regularly accuses Manila of transporting these materials to the atoll in order to reinforce the stranded ship, which is in poor condition, and thus to be able to reaffirm its claims of sovereignty there.
Wang Yi and Antony Blinken held talks on the sidelines of a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the Laotian capital.
China claims a large part of the islets in the South China Sea, facing other coastal countries (the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia), with rival claims.
This China-Philippines confrontation fuels fears of a potential conflict that could lead to intervention by Washington, due to its mutual defense treaty with Manila.
” Provocation ”
On Taiwan, Wang Yi reaffirmed China’s position vis-à-vis Antony Blinken, whose country is the main military and political supporter of the island claimed by Beijing.
“Taiwan is part of China. It has never been and will never be a country,” Wang stressed.
He vowed to respond to any “provocation” by “Taiwanese separatists” and to “work to achieve the goal of complete reunification” between the island and mainland China.
Taiwan has had its own government and institutions separate from those of the People’s Republic of China since 1949, when the Kuomintang Nationalists, defeated by the Communists on the mainland, retreated to the island.
China considers Taiwan, with a population of about 23 million, to be one of its provinces, which it has not yet managed to reunify with the rest of its territory.
More generally, Wang Yi called on Antony Blinken and the United States to “promote cooperation” bilaterally and to have a “rational and pragmatic policy” towards a China that “does not seek hegemony or power.”
“China’s policy toward the United States has always been consistent, adhering to mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation,” he stressed.
Despite recurring bilateral tensions, relations between the two world powers have somewhat stabilized since the summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden in November 2023.