TOKYO: The foreign ministers of the United States, Japan, Australia and India on Monday expressed “serious concern” over the situation in the South China Sea in a veiled rebuke to Beijing.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his counterparts in the so-called Quad grouping issued a joint statement calling for a “free and open” Pacific after talks in Tokyo. The statement did not name China directly but referenced a series of recent confrontations between Chinese and Philippine vessels in the disputed South China Sea.

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“We are seriously concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas and reiterate our strong opposition to any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion,” the communique said.

“We continue to express our serious concern about the militarisation of disputed features, and coercive and intimidating maneuvers in the South China Sea,” it added.

Beijing warns US, Japan to ‘stop creating imaginary enemies’

The group also condemned North Korea’s “destabilising” missile launches. Their words prompted ire from Beijing, which accused the four nations of “creating tension, inciting confrontation, and containing the development of other countries”.

Blinken is on a tour of Asia-Pacific countries aimed at reinforcing regional cooperation in the face of Beijing’s growing assertiveness and its deepening ties with Russia.

The Quad talks in Tokyo, the first since September, included Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, India’s S. Jaishankar and Australia’s top diplomat Penny Wong.

‘Imaginary enemies’

Beijing on Monday warned the United States and Japan to “stop creating imaginary enemies” after the countries lashed out against China’s actions in the South China Sea in Tokyo talks.

“We strongly urge the US and Japan to immediately stop interfering in China’s internal affairs and stop creating imaginary enemies,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.

Following talks in the Japanese capital on Sunday, the US and the hosts slammed Beijing’s “destabilising actions” in the South China Sea while also condemning Russia’s growing military cooperation with China and North Korea.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and their Japanese counterparts “reiterated their strong objections to the PRC’s unlawful maritime claims, militarisation of reclaimed features, and threatening and provocative activities in the South China Sea”, a joint statement said, using an acronym for China.

China’s “destabilising actions in this region include unsafe encounters at sea and in the air, efforts to disrupt other countries’ offshore resources exploitation, as well as the dangerous use of Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels”, the communique added.

They accused China of “intensifying attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion in the East China Sea” and that Chinese “foreign policy seeks to reshape the international order for its own benefit at the expense of others”.

China’s Lin on Monday said the joint statement “disregards facts, mixes up right and wrong maliciously attacks China’s foreign policy”.

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2024