VIENTIANE: The United States hailed "open and productive" discussions between China's foreign minister and Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Laos on Saturday.
Blinken's stop in Laos is part of a multi-nation Asia visit aimed at reinforcing regional ties in the face of Beijing's growing assertiveness, including in the South China Sea, and its deepening ties with Moscow.
The talks on the sidelines of a foreign ministers meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) lasted for one hour and twenty minutes, according to a senior State Department official.
Shortly before the meeting Blinken hit out at Beijing's "escalatory and unlawful actions" in the South China Sea, where China and the Philippines are locked in a territorial dispute.
Beijing says the waterway almost in its entirety despite an international court ruling that its assertion has no legal basis. On Saturday Manila said it had successfully resupplied troops on the Second Thomas Shoal -- the focus of clashes in recent months -- under a deal agreed with Beijing.
On Friday Wang called on the Philippines to "honour its commitments" under the deal rather than "backtracking or creating complications", warning Beijing would "respond resolutely" to any violation.
Blinken arrived in Laos two days after the foreign ministers of China and Russia met with the 10-nation ASEAN bloc -- and each other on the sidelines of the meeting.
On Thursday, Wang met Russia foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Vientiane and discussed "building a new security architecture for Eurasia", according to Moscow's foreign ministry.
The pair also agreed to jointly "counter any attempts by extra-regional forces to interfere in Southeast Asian affairs", it said. China has a strong political and economic partnership with Russia.
A joint communique released by ASEAN on Saturday expressed the bloc's "deep concern over the escalation of conflicts" in member-state Myanmar.
The country has been ravaged by violence since the military seized power in 2021, sparking renewed fighting with established ethnic minority armed groups and dozens of newer "People's Defence Forces".
ASEAN has spearheaded so far unsuccessful diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis, with a five-point peace plan agreed between the junta and the bloc now moribund.
The five-point consensus "remains our main reference to address the political crisis," the joint communique said. — AFP
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