China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi gestures during the 25th Asean Plus Three Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the 57th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Vientiane on Saturday (July 27). – AFP
BEIJING: In a meeting on Friday (JULY 26) with Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo on the margins of a regional forum in the Laotian capital of Vientiane, Wang warned the Philippines against the deployment of a US intermediate missile system on its soil, the official Xinhua News Agency said in a report on Saturday (July 27).
At a time when ties between the two sides are strained, "it is not easy to build good relations, but it is easy to destroy them,” it said, citing Wang.
Top envoys from South-East Asia and partner nations are meeting in Laos to discuss pressing security issues from the war in Ukraine to the civil conflict raging in Myanmar. Wang is also expected to meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday afternoon.
Tensions in the South China Sea are among the major topics expected to be discussed in Vientiane.
The Philippines said on July 21 that it had reached an understanding with China on the resupply of Philippine troops stationed on a dilapidated World Ward II-era ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, in the contested Spratly Islands. The ship, in the Second Thomas Shoal, has been at the center of tensions between the two nations.
Manila didn’t elaborate on the interim pact but hours later both countries were at odds over the details of the arrangement. The Philippine government disputed a Chinese claim that Beijing would monitor the missions and must be informed in advance if Manila sends "living necessities” to troops on the ship. – Bloomberg
