PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that China’s military exercises targeting Taiwan, including missiles fired into Japan’s exclusive economic zone, represent an “escalation important” and which has urged Beijing to back off.
China launched the exercises after a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan that angered Beijing, which claims the self-ruled island as its own territory.
Blinken told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Cambodia, however, that Pelosi’s visit was peaceful and did not represent a change in US policy toward Taiwan , accusing China of using it as a “pretext to increase provocation.” military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait.”
He said the situation had led to “vigorous communication” during the East Asia Summit meetings in Phnom Penh in which both he and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi participated along with the nations of ASEAN, Russia and others.
“I reiterated the points that we made publicly and directly to the Chinese counterparts in recent days, again, that they should not use the visit as a pretext for war, for escalation, for provocative actions, that there is no possible justification for what they have done and to urge them to cease these actions,” he said.
Blinken did not sit down with Wang individually, but said he had already spoken to the Chinese foreign minister about the possibility of a visit by Pelosi to Taiwan before it took place during the Bali meetings and had made clear the US position.
China announced unspecified sanctions on Pelosi on Friday over her visit. A statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it had ignored China’s concerns and determined opposition to his trip.
Pelosi received a rousing welcome as the first speaker of the US House and the highest-ranking US official to visit Taiwan in more than 25 years.
China opposes any engagement of Taiwanese officials with foreign governments and has accused the US of breaking the status quo with Pelosi’s visit. The US insists there has been no change in its “one China” stance of recognizing the government in Beijing, while allowing informal relations and defense ties with Taipei.
Despite the aggressive Chinese reaction to the visit, Blinken said the US would also not change its “commitment to the security of our allies in the region” and that the Defense Department had ordered the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier group “to remain at the station.” in the general area to control the situation.”
“We will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows,” he said. “We will continue to conduct standard air and sea traffic through the Taiwan Strait, consistent with our long-standing approach to working with allies and partners to maintain freedom of navigation and overflight.”
As the East Asia Summit opened, Wang patted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the shoulder as he entered the room and quickly waved to Lavrov, who was already seated , before taking his own seat. Lavrov responded with the gesture.
Blinken, who entered the room last, didn’t even look at Lavrov as he sat a half-dozen chairs away, or at Wang, who sat further down at the same table as Lavrov.
Before the Phnom Penh talks, the US State Department indicated that Blinken did not plan to meet individually with either during the course of the meetings.
After the meetings, Lavrov told reporters that there had been many “burning statements” about the fallout from Pelosi’s visit.
“There have been quite strong statements from our Chinese partners, which we support,” he told reporters. “And there have been responses from the US and Japan that it is none of China’s business and that the stated policy of supporting the one-China principle does not mean that permission should be sought from Beijing to visit Taiwan. Surely, It’s strange logic.”
The talks came a day after WNBA star Brittney Griner was convicted of drug possession and sentenced to nine years in prison by Russia in a politically charged case amid antagonism over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Blinken said the conviction and sentence “compound the injustice that has been done to him.”
“It puts a spotlight on our very significant turnaround with the Russian legal system and the Russian government’s use of wrongful detentions to advance its own agenda by using people as political pawns,” he said.
Blinken has suggested the possibility of a prisoner swap for Griner and another American jailed in Russia, Paul Whelan, but Lavrov told reporters that such a deal could only be decided by Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden.
“We are ready to discuss this issue, but to discuss it within the channel agreed upon by Presidents Putin and Biden,” Lavrov said on the sidelines of the ASEAN meeting.
On Thursday, China canceled a meeting of foreign ministers with Japan to protest a statement by the Group of Seven industrialized nations that said there was no justification for Beijing’s military exercises, which virtually surround Taiwan .
“Japan, along with another member of the G-7 and the EU, made an irresponsible statement accusing China and confusing right and wrong,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in Beijing. .
When Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa began speaking at the East Asia Summit on Friday, both Lavrov and Wang left the room, according to a diplomat in the room who spoke on condition of anonymity to talk about the private session.
In the wake of Chinese missile launches into Japan’s economic zone, Blinken said the United States stands in “strong solidarity” with Japan following the “dangerous actions China has taken.”
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Associated Press writer Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines contributed to this report.