A CLASH in the South China Sea threatened to overshadow a meeting of Southeast Asian nations on Tuesday as the United States condemned “dangerous” Chinese actions in the contested waterway.
The US statement came minutes after Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in the Philippines, where the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) is expected to tackle issues including the civil war in Myanmar.
Before departing Washington on Monday, Rubio said he was open to the possibility of a sideline meeting with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi, who will also be in Manila.
The foreign ministers of the Asean on Tuesday expressed serious concern over the renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran, saying the rapidly evolving situation in the Middle East “severely undermine the ongoing efforts of key mediators and diminish the prospects for a peaceful resolution through dialogue and diplomacy.” “We called on all parties concerned to exercise utmost self-restraint and avoid any acts that may further aggravate the situation,” the foreign ministers said in a joint statement on Tuesday.
Regional defense umbrella
In an op-ed published Tuesday morning in the Philippines, Rubio touted Washington’s commitment “to freedom of navigation in Southeast Asia” and the regional defensive umbrella it has provided.
“This freedom is by no means guaranteed. If these waters were to fall under the control of a power willing to use trade as a geopolitical weapon, both the United States and the Asean states would face serious new threats to their sovereignty, security, and economic future,” he wrote, in a clear allusion to China.
Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, a vital global trade route, despite an international ruling that its claims have no legal basis.
On Monday, Philippine and Chinese sailors clashed at the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea in what was the first serious seaborne encounter in months.
Manila said China Coast Guard personnel had assaulted Filipino sailors near a beached vessel that serves as a garrison on the disputed shoal.
