Beijing, Washington exchange warnings over South China Sea

China has warned the United States against supporting the Philippines in the South China Sea, as Washington pledged to back its allies during a high-level meeting in Beijing on Wednesday.

The two rival superpowers, however, seem determined to continue communicating and have, according to the White House, begun preparing for a possible telephone exchange between US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping “in the coming weeks.”

“The United States should not use bilateral treaties as a pretext to undermine China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, nor should it support or condone the illegal actions of the Philippines,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Jake Sullivan, Joe Biden's national security adviser, during their meeting, according to Chinese broadcaster CCTV.

Joe Biden's top adviser, for his part, “reiterated the United States' commitment to defending its allies in the Indo-Pacific region,” according to a statement released Wednesday by the White House.

Jake Sullivan also “expressed his concern about China's destabilizing actions against legal maritime activities of the Philippines in the South China Sea,” according to the report published by the American executive.

He also, using the now customary language of the United States on the matter, “stressed the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”

– China and Russia –

The American envoy once again expressed American “concerns” in the face of “China's support for the Russian defense industry.”

The South China Sea e © AFP – Valentin RAKOVSKY, Sophie RAMIS

Tensions between Beijing and Manila have escalated in recent months, marked by a series of standoffs in the South China Sea, where Beijing claims much of the islands and reefs despite an international tribunal ruling in 2016 that rejected those claims.

On Monday, China said it had taken “control measures” after another incident with Philippine ships near a disputed atoll in the South China Sea, the fourth in a week.

According to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, Wang told his American counterpart that China was “firmly committed to safeguarding its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights over the islands in the South China Sea.”

Japan and the Philippines, both allies of the The United States has blamed Beijing for tensions in the South China Sea, with Tokyo calling Beijing the “biggest disrupter” of peace in Southeast Asia.

This trip by Jake Sullivan is the first by a White House national security adviser to China since 2016.

According to Washington, it demonstrates a desire to maintain dialogue between the two leading world powers, expressed in November 2023 during a meeting between Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in California.

– Military communication –

The White House considered that the discussions in Beijing had been “frank, substantial and constructive.”

The United States recalled, during the talks between Jake Sullivan and Wang Yi, “the importance of having regular and continuous communications” at the military level.

The discussions have focused on areas of possible cooperation between the two states, in particular the fight against fentanyl trafficking and the fight against climate change.

On other more contentious subjects between Washington and Beijing, the national security adviser indicated that the Biden administration would continue to take “the necessary decisions to prevent advanced American military technologies from being used in a way that compromises our national security”.

The United States has taken a series of measures limiting China's access to certain cutting-edge technologies, to the great displeasure of Beijing.

Jake Sullivan finally mentioned the case of Americans “detained without reason (in China) or banned from leaving the country” by stating that the subject was a “priority”.

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