Mao Ning —PHOTO FROM CHINA Ministry of Foreign Affairs
BEIJING — China on Friday summoned the ambassador of the Philippines and a Japanese diplomat over what it called “negative” comments from a trilateral meeting and other engagements on Thursday between Washington, Manila and Tokyo.
The United States and its allies have been building up their militaries to counter what they see as a growing threat from China in such areas as the busy waterway of the South China Sea and around Taiwan.
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At this week’s summit in Washington hosted by US President Joe Biden, he and his Philippine and Japanese counterparts, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Fumio Kishida, discussed China’s “aggressive” actions in the South China Sea, besides unveiling a wide range of pacts to boost security and economic ties.
Following a joint statement among the three leaders, an official of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Liu Jinsong, held separate meetings on Friday with Japanese Embassy official Akira Yokochi and Philippine Ambassador Jaime FlorCruz.
‘Wanton smears, attacks’
The ministry said Liu made “solemn representations” to these diplomats regarding the “negative words and deeds” about China as articulated during the visit to Washington by Marcos and Kishida.
The Japanese leader also delivered a speech to the US Congress that Thursday in which he named China the biggest challenge facing the world.
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“We strongly deplore and strongly oppose the remarks,” the ministry’s spokesperson, Mao Ning, said at her press briefing on Friday.
“We firmly oppose engaging in closed cliques that exclude others in the region,” she said further. “Japan and the Philippines can, of course, develop normal relations with other countries. But they should not invite factional opposition into the region, much less engage in trilateral cooperation at the cost of hurting another country’s interests.”
“If these are not wanton smears and attacks on China, what are they?” Mao said.
“China’s actions in the East China Sea and South China Sea are appropriate and lawful and beyond reproach,” asserted the spokesperson.
Biden and Kishida also laid out a series of projects, from codeveloping missiles to manned moon landings, among other joint developments on defense.
In a separate meeting with Marcos, the US leader again warned of Beijing’s moves in the South China Sea.