Blinken arrives at Asia summit with firm line on Myanmar, China; Japan raises 'serious concerns' with China

Blinken arrives at Asia summit with firm line on Myanmar, China; Japan raises 'serious concerns' with China
by AFP Staff Writers
Vientiane (AFP) Oct 10, 2024

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Laos on Thursday for the East Asia Summit, where he will push a firm line on Myanmar's junta and Beijing's assertive actions in the South China Sea.

In a shift of focus after exhaustive diplomacy on the Middle East crisis, the top US diplomat landed in Vientiane where he will represent the United States at the annual Southeast Asian-led meetings, which President Joe Biden is skipping for the second straight year.

The summit will bring Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the same room, but no talks between the two are expected, with the Biden administration believing Moscow is insincere in its calls for peace talks on Ukraine.

Myanmar is sending a representative to a top-level gathering of the ASEAN bloc for the first time in more than three years, as diplomats push to kickstart diplomacy with the military junta.

Daniel Kritenbrink, the top US diplomat for East Asia, said ahead of the summit that the United States supported ASEAN's efforts but would advocate sustained pressure on the military regime.

"Unfortunately, we have seen virtually zero progress" from the junta on priorities such as freeing political prisoners and reducing violence with ethnic fighters, he said.

Blinken, who met two weeks ago with his Chinese counterpart in New York, will also back efforts by Southeast Asia to raise concerns with Beijing about its increasingly assertive claims in the South China Sea.

While the Middle East is not expected to dominate discussions in Laos, Blinken will meet later Thursday with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who has been vocally critical of US support for Israel.

US officials privately say they understand the political pressure in the Muslim-majority country and that they seek a cooperative relationship with Anwar, who enjoyed strong advocacy from Washington when he was controversially imprisoned.

Blinken will also meet Thursday with new Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra of Thailand, the oldest US ally in Asia.

New Japan FM raises 'serious concerns' with China's Wang
Tokyo (AFP) Oct 10, 2024 - Japan's new foreign minister told his Chinese counterpart he had "serious concerns" about increased military activity by Beijing including a recent airspace "violation", Tokyo said.

Takeshi Iwaya told Wang Yi by phone on Wednesday he had "serious concerns about the situation in the East China Sea... and increased Chinese military activity," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

They included "the violation of Japanese airspace by a Chinese military aircraft in August and the passage of an aircraft carrier in waters close to Japan's territorial waters in September," it said, adding he had called for "a full explanation of the violation of Japanese airspace".

Tensions have been building between Beijing and Tokyo in recent years as China expands its military presence in the region and Japan boosts security ties with the United States and its allies.

A major point of contention in the East China Sea is the uninhabited Senkaku islands, which are claimed by China and by Taiwan, which refer to them as the Diaoyu islands.

A Chinese military aircraft staged the first confirmed incursion by China into Japanese airspace in August, followed in September by a Chinese aircraft carrier sailing between two Japanese islands near Taiwan for the first time.

Later, a Japanese warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait for the first time, drawing an angry response from Beijing.

China's rare test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean in late September also drew strong protests from Tokyo.

A Chinese readout of Wednesday's call said Wang had told Iwaya he was looking forward to "a new atmosphere... and to new progress in China-Japan relations", Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said.

China's top diplomat also said Beijing hoped that Japan would "abide by its political commitments on the Taiwan issue, unswervingly adhere to the one-China principle", according to the CCTV report.

According to the Japanese statement, Iwaya also "emphasized that he hopes to work together with Minister Wang to ensure that the people of both countries can reap and feel the fruits of the development of Japan-China relations through the efforts of both governments".