The United States, China address international differences as their top diplomats meet for the sixth time since last year

The United States and China renewed their mutual grievances on Saturday as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Chinese counterpart held their sixth meeting since last year, amid an uncertain political situation in the United States and growing concerns about China’s growing assertiveness in Asia and elsewhere.

Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met for about an hour and 20 minutes on the sidelines of an annual Southeast Asia regional security forum in Vientiane, Laos, where tensions between China and U.S. ally the Philippines over disputes in the South China Sea were a focus of discussion.

U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Blinken and Wang had an “open and productive” discussion but reached no meaningful agreement on the issues that most divide them in the Indo-Pacific, Europe and the Americas.

“The United States will continue to take necessary steps to protect our interests and values, as well as those of our allies and partners, including on human rights,” Blinken told Wang, according to Miller.

Blinken “made clear that the United States, together with our allies and partners, will advance our vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific,” he said, pointing to China’s recent aggressive actions toward Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as part of the mainland and which it has vowed to reunify by force if necessary.

The top US diplomat also rebuked China for its “destabilizing actions in the South China Sea” and “affirmed the United States’ support for freedom of navigation and overflight and the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law,” Miller said.

However, Blinken also praised China and the Philippines for reaching a deal earlier this week that allowed the Philippines to conduct a resupply trip to the disputed area on Saturday without having to confront Beijing’s forces, the first such trip since the deal was struck.

“We are pleased to note the successful replenishment today at the Second Thomas Bench,” Blinken told foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ahead of his meeting with Wang. “We welcome that and hope and expect that to continue.”

Before the deal, tensions between the Philippines and China had been escalating for months, with the Chinese coast guard and other forces using powerful water cannons and dangerous blocking maneuvers to prevent food and other supplies from reaching Philippine navy personnel.

However, Blinken, who will be in Manila next week as part of his ongoing six-nation tour of Asia, also deplored China’s “escalated and illegal actions against the Philippines in the South China Sea in recent months.”

In his meeting with Wang, Blinken also reiterated deep concerns in the United States and Europe about China’s support for Russia’s defense industry, which Washington and European capitals believe Russia is using to ramp up production of weapons for use in its war against Ukraine.

Blinken “made it clear that if (China) does not act to address this threat to European security, the United States will continue to take appropriate steps to do so,” Miller said. Since that warning was first issued more than a year ago, the United States and other countries have imposed sanctions on more than 300 Russian and Chinese companies involved in the trade.

Asked whether the Chinese had responded to the sanctions in the way the United States and its allies wanted, a senior State Department official said: “Not enough. Not enough to allay our concerns.” The official spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss the private diplomatic meeting.

Blinken’s trip to Asia was announced just hours after President Joe Biden announced he would drop his candidacy in November’s election in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris. While the senior official said the reshuffle was not discussed during Saturday’s meetings, he said Blinken stressed to Wang that Harris has experience with China and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Bangkok in 2022.

The official said Blinken referred to the Biden-Harris administration’s desire to keep relations with China on a positive path and noted that while he “has mentioned it before, obviously the context is different now.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was also present at the ASEAN meeting in Laos, but the senior official said Blinken had no interaction with him.

From Laos, Blinken flew to Hanoi for a brief stopover to offer condolences over the death last week of Vietnam’s powerful Communist Party leader and was then scheduled to travel to Japan, the Philippines, Singapore and Mongolia.

On Sunday and Monday in Tokyo and Manila, Blinken will be joined by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, where they will meet with their Japanese and Philippine counterparts to strengthen defense cooperation. Blinken will also meet in Tokyo with the foreign ministers of India and South Korea.

Over the past six decades, there have been major U.S. troop deployments to Japan and South Korea, and a mutual defense treaty with the Philippines has been a constant of U.S. policy in Asia.

Former President Donald Trump, now the Republican presidential candidate, questioned the usefulness of U.S. alliances around the world during his first term and suggested that the U.S. military presence in Japan and South Korea could be reduced or eliminated.