The United States on Saturday called on China to end its “provocative and unsafe conduct” following its recent clash with a Philippines Coast Guard boat in the disputed South China Sea ahead of the Philippines president’s White House visit. ,
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement two days before President Joe Biden hosted his Philippine counterpart Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that the incident was a reminder of China’s “harassment and intimidation” of Philippine ships in the disputed waterway.
“We call on Beijing to desist from its provocative and unsafe conduct,” he said.
Biden has been working to strengthen ties with Asian allies as US-Chinese relations have historically been in a deep freeze, and the Philippines’ key sea lanes and proximity to Taiwan give it particular strategic importance.
The near-miss Sunday off the Spratly Islands was the latest in a long string of maritime incidents between China and the Philippines.
Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, ignoring an international ruling that the claim has no legal basis.