VIENTIANE, July 27 (Reuters) - 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 Gazaand 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.
Photo from Reuters
