US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday expressed his concern over China’s “provocative actions” around Taiwan during an interview described as “open and constructive” with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, a senior State Department official said.
The head of US diplomacy expressed US “concerns regarding recent provocative actions by China, including a simulated blockade at the time of the inauguration” of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, the top official said.
China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has increased intimidation against the democratically-ruled island in recent years.
After the inauguration of new President Lai Ching-te in May, China surrounded Taiwan with warships and military aircraft in military maneuvers. These exercises followed an inauguration speech which China condemned as a “concession of independence”.
Relations between China and the United States remain tense
Foreign Minister Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had “open and productive discussions on bilateral, regional and global issues” during their meeting Saturday in Vientiane, Laos, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
The United States should “refrain from fanning the flames, sowing trouble and jeopardizing the stability of the sea,” Wang Yi said during the meeting, according to a statement from his ministry. “Risks and challenges regarding China-US relations are further increasing,” he commented.
The two men met in the afternoon for 1 hour and 20 minutes, their sixth meeting in eighteen months, on the sidelines of a meeting of Southeast Asian (Asian) foreign ministers in the Lao capital.
Blinken also raised the issue of human rights in Taiwan, Tibet and Hong Kong, as well as China’s support for Russia in its war in Ukraine. He finally raised “the issue of people unjustly imprisoned in China and the need to make progress on this,” the official said.
A new American tour in Asia
The US secretary of state began an Asian tour on Saturday, where he intends to reaffirm US leadership in the face of China’s growing influence.
This is the US secretary of state’s 18th Asia tour since he took office more than three years ago, reflecting the fierce competition between the US and China in the region.
He has prioritized promoting “a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific region”, the term used in the US to designate an Asia-Pacific zone free from influence, a veiled way of criticizing China and its economic, territorial and strategic ambitions in the region.
His visit to Southeast Asia comes amid tensions in the South China Sea, where a series of clashes have occurred in recent months between Philippine and Chinese ships over disputed reefs.
