Secretary of State Antony Blinken assured the top Philippine diplomat on Wednesday in a phone call that the United States is with Southeast Asian countries following recent Chinese acts in the region, a report said.
Reuters reported that Blinken told Teodoro Locsin, his Filipino counterpart, that the United States rejects Beijing’s claims about the South China Sea and only recognizes claims under international law.
A CRAFT AMBASSADOR CALLS FOR THE REFORM OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL, AS A PROBABILITY TO RESTART
China increased activity in Taiwan’s airspace on Sunday, flying 15 fighters between mainland Taiwan and the Silver Islands in the South China Sea, a report said.
Reuters, which quoted Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense, said the jets included six J-10 fighters, two SU-30s and other military planes. A day earlier, China flew eight bombers and four fighters in the same airspace, the report said.
HALEY SAYS THAT BIDEN REJUNCING THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL ‘WOULD FLY IN THE FACE’ OF RIGHTS PRESSURE
Blinken said at a confirmation hearing on Tuesday that “there is no doubt” that China represents any nation’s greatest threat to the U.S. and that the Trump administration was right to take a tougher stance against the Asian power.
“President Trump was right to take a tougher approach to China,” said Blinken, who served as national security adviser to then Vice President Biden before being promoted to Deputy Secretary of State for Barack Obama. “Not in the way he did it in many ways, but the basic principle was right.”
Fox News’s Morgan Phillips contributed to this report