US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday talked extensively with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) about Taiwan and raised concerns about Beijing’s recent “provocative actions,” a senior US Department of State official said.
Those actions included a simulated blockade during the inauguration of President William Lai (賴清德), the official said, adding that Blinken and Wang agreed to keep making progress on their countries’ military-to-military ties.
“In every discussion, Taiwan is the issue that they care most about. They see it as ... an internal China issue, so he [Wang] always has a fair bit to say about Taiwan, as they always have a fair bit to say publicly,” the official said.
Photo: AFP
The two talked for 1 hour, 20 minutes on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Laos, in their sixth meeting since June last year, when Blinken visited Beijing in a significant sign of improvement in strained relations between the world’s two biggest economies.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had no immediate statement on the latest meeting.
Blinken conveyed to Wang that US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, both believed in the importance of stability in the US-China relationship, and that a rules-based order must be upheld, the official added.
Blinken also discussed China’s support for Russia’s defense industrial base, but received no commitment from Wang, the official said.
“The secretary raised concerns and did say again that we’ve taken actions, and we’ll continue to take them if we don’t see appropriate actions on your side,” the official said.
Blinken also raised with Wang US concerns over human rights in Hong Kong and Tibet, and stressed the need for more progress from Beijing on countering narcotics including fentanyl precursors coming out of China.
Blinken’s stop in Laos is part of a multination Asia visit aimed at reinforcing regional ties in the face of an increasingly assertive Beijing.
ASEAN foreign ministers stressed the importance of “security, stability, safety, and freedom of navigation in and overflight above the South China Sea,” they said in a joint communique issued yesterday.
Some ministers had expressed concern over “serious incidents in the area ... which have eroded trust and confidence, increased tensions,” it said, without giving details.
The communique also expressed the bloc’s “deep concern over the escalation of conflicts” in member-state Myanmar, which has been ravaged by violence since the military seized power in 2021, sparking renewed fighting with established ethnic minority armed groups and dozens of newer “People’s Defence Forces.”
Additional reporting by AFP
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