U.S. Sec Blinken expresses concern at ASEAN meeting over China’s ’dangerous’ actions in disputed sea

ASEAN summit meeting: US Sec. Blinken addresses China's aggressive actions in South China Sea, assures U.S. commitment to freedom of navigation.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Southeast Asian leaders on Friday ( October 10, 2024) that the U.S. is concerned about China's “increasingly dangerous and unlawful” activities in the disputed South China Sea during an annual summit meeting, and pledged the U.S. will continue to uphold freedom of navigation in the vital sea trade route.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ meeting with Mr. Blinken followed a series of violent confrontations at sea between China and ASEAN members Philippines and Vietnam, which have fuelled concerns that China’s increasingly assertive actions in the waterways could spiral into a full-scale conflict.

China, which claims almost the entire sea, has overlapping claims with ASEAN members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, as well as Taiwan. About a third of global trade transits through the sea, which is also rich in fishing stocks, gas and oil.

Beijing has refused to recognize a 2016 international arbitration ruling by a U.N.-affiliated court in the Hague that invalidated its expansive claims, and has built up and militarized islands it controls.

“We are very concerned about China’s increasingly dangerous and unlawful activities in the South China Sea which have injured people, harm vessels from ASEAN nations and contradict commitments to peaceful resolutions of disputes,” said Mr. Blinken, who is filling in for President Joe Biden, in his opening speech at the U.S.-ASEAN summit. “The United States will continue to support freedom of navigation, and freedom of overflight in the Indo Pacific.”

The U.S. has no claims in the South China Sea, but has deployed navy ships and fighter jets to patrol the waters in a challenge to China’s claims.

Chinese and Philippine vessels have clashed repeatedly this year, and Vietnam said last week that Chinese forces assaulted its fishermen in the disputed sea. China has also sent patrol vessels to areas that Indonesia and Malaysia claim as exclusive economic zones.