NATO told of China’s ‘destabilizing’ moves
Rubio underscored the importance of maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region, as well as peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Photograph courtesy of JOHN THYS / AFP
China’s increasingly destabilizing activities in the South China Sea were brought up during high-level discussions held on the sidelines of the NATO Summit, the US State Department said Thursday.
brought up during high-level discussions held on the sidelines of the NATO Summit, the US State Department said Thursday.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised the issue with his G7 counterparts.
Bruce said Rubio underscored the importance of maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region, as well as peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
“Additionally, they spoke about the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, deepening cooperation on China’s destabilizing actions in the South China Sea, and the role of G7 countries in maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” Bruce said in a statement.
China claims the entire vast South China Sea, including the portion west of the Philippines the latter calls the West Philippine Sea. Recently, confrontations between the Philippine Coast Guard and the China Coast Guard and its militia vessels had increased significantly.
In 2016, the Philippines won a landmark arbitration case against China at the Permanent Court of Arbitration which invalidated China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea.
China has rejected the award, calling it “illegal, null and void.”
The foreign ministers also discussed the recent US action targeting key Iranian nuclear facilities.
Bruce said the G7 countries’ top diplomats reaffirmed that Iran must never be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons and reviewed the next steps to promote a durable peace between Israel and Iran.
On Monday, President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, which ended what he described as the “12-Day War” in the Middle East.
Trump made the announcement after Iran launched a missile attack on the US airbase in Qatar — a move the President downplayed.
Iran conducted the retaliatory attack after the US military carried out strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities — Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz.