web counter
LEXO PA REKLAMA!

SHKARKO APP

App Store
Google Play

E fundit!

x

Secretary Blinken will meet with the Chinese Foreign Minister

2024-07-20 14:02:14, Kosova & Bota CNA
Secretary Blinken will meet with the Chinese Foreign Minister
US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. Source, AFP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he will meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi next week in Laos, where senior officials from ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries will gather.

Secretary Blinken added that he speaks with Mr. Wang regularly, an important practice to clarify each country's intentions and avoid conflicts due to misunderstandings.

" We are able to communicate very clearly about the areas where we disagree. So at least China knows our position, as we know their position. We have this for the South China Sea. We have it on Taiwan and on overproduction ," Secretary Blinken told an audience gathered Friday at the Aspen Security Forum.

Although the United States and China are not Southeast Asian countries, senior diplomats from both countries are usually invited to attend regional meetings and often hold bilateral talks in this context.

On Friday, the US government advised US citizens in Taiwan to act accordingly for an upcoming annual Taiwan air defense exercise called "Wan An Number 47", scheduled to take place from Monday to Thursday. During the 30-minute exercise for civilians, the emergency notification system, which signals the start and end of an event, will be tested.

Next week, Taiwan's military will also hold its annual "Han Kuang" defense drills, which usually involve large-scale live-fire exercises.

The air defense drills come as Chinese military aircraft and ships continue to operate around Taiwan. In recent months, Taiwan has reported that Chinese military aircraft frequently cross the median line and regularly enter Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ).

" If there was a crisis for Taiwan, it would be a crisis that really affects the whole world, not just its immediate neighbors. Fifty percent of commercial freight traffic passes through the strait every day; 70% of the semiconductors the world relies on are made in Taiwan ," Secretary Blinken said Friday.

Secretary Blinken's talks with Minister Wang next week in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, will follow the conclusion of a major four-day political meeting held by the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing.

Known as China's Third Plenum, the meetings adopted policies aimed at advancing the country's technological prowess and strengthening its national security.

The personnel changes made at the plenum drew a lot of attention after the Chinese Communist Party officially approved the removal of its former foreign minister, Qin Gang, from its Central Committee.

Also, the plenum confirmed the expulsion of former defense minister Li Shangfu. Li Yuchao and Sun Jinming, of the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force, were also removed from the Central Committee.

ASEAN has announced its intention to speed up negotiations with China on a code of conduct to reduce the risk of conflicts in the disputed South China Sea. This Southeast Asian organization hopes to complete the talks by 2026.

" We follow it all the time, not only the Taiwan Strait, [but also] the South China Sea ," Secretary Blinken said Friday during the Aspen Security Forum. He noted the escalation of tensions between China and the Philippines due to recent clashes near the waters around Second Thomas Shoal, known as Rén'ài Jiao in China.

According to a legally binding international court ruling issued in July 2016, Second Thomas Shoal is within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone and China has no legitimate maritime claims to the surrounding waters.

Beijing has rejected the decision, claiming "indisputable sovereignty" over most of the South China Sea./ VOA





Lajmet e fundit nga