China says that the US, Japan, and the Philippines are "smearing and attacking" China before the three-way meeting in Washington on Friday. The three countries said in a statement before the meeting that China's coastal claims were "illegal" and that Beijing was acting in a "dangerous and aggressive" way.
Friday, US President Joe Biden held a meeting at the White House with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The goal of the summit was to show that the US stands by Japan and the Philippines and that our support is "ironclad."
The three leaders spoke out against China's "dangerous and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea" before Kishida and Marcos arrived in Washington. They said that China's "militarization" and "unlawful maritime claims" in the disputed waterway were unacceptable.
Friday in Beijing, Mao Ning, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told the press that China is against "any acts that stoke and drive up tensions and harm other countries' strategic security and interests."
Mao went on to say, "Japan and the Philippines have every right to build friendly ties with other nations. But they should not bring bloc conflict into this area or trilateral cooperation that hurts the interests of other nations."
Washington said the meeting was not meant to be against China, but Mao said, "The answer is right there in the trilateral statement." What else could it be besides an attack and smear on China?"
The statement made it clear that the Second Thomas Shoal, a rock that was underwater and claimed by the Philippines in the late 1990s, was in their exclusive economic zone. It also said that China was trying "to undermine Japan's longstanding and peaceful administration of the Senkaku Islands," a group of unclaimed islands near Taiwan that Japan took from China in 1895.
Mao said, "China has undeniable sovereignty" over both of these areas. "Our actions in the East China Sea and South China Sea are legal, proper, and above reproach," she said, adding that Beijing thinks the 2016 decision by an international court to accept the Philippines' claim to the shoal is "illegal" and "without any basis in fact."
The United States is not a member of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which is what set up the panel.
Along with its land issues with Japan and the Philippines, China also has ongoing marine conflicts with Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, and Brunei.
The US, Japan, and the Philippines held a "freedom of navigation" drill together in the South China Sea a week before Friday's meeting. Sending boats through China's exclusive economic zone is part of these drills, which Beijing has repeatedly called "provocations."
The statement from Friday says that the three countries will do something similar later this year.
Friday, US President Joe Biden held a meeting at the White House with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The goal of the summit was to show that the US stands by Japan and the Philippines and that our support is "ironclad."
The three leaders spoke out against China's "dangerous and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea" before Kishida and Marcos arrived in Washington. They said that China's "militarization" and "unlawful maritime claims" in the disputed waterway were unacceptable.
Friday in Beijing, Mao Ning, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told the press that China is against "any acts that stoke and drive up tensions and harm other countries' strategic security and interests."
Mao went on to say, "Japan and the Philippines have every right to build friendly ties with other nations. But they should not bring bloc conflict into this area or trilateral cooperation that hurts the interests of other nations."
Washington said the meeting was not meant to be against China, but Mao said, "The answer is right there in the trilateral statement." What else could it be besides an attack and smear on China?"
The statement made it clear that the Second Thomas Shoal, a rock that was underwater and claimed by the Philippines in the late 1990s, was in their exclusive economic zone. It also said that China was trying "to undermine Japan's longstanding and peaceful administration of the Senkaku Islands," a group of unclaimed islands near Taiwan that Japan took from China in 1895.
Mao said, "China has undeniable sovereignty" over both of these areas. "Our actions in the East China Sea and South China Sea are legal, proper, and above reproach," she said, adding that Beijing thinks the 2016 decision by an international court to accept the Philippines' claim to the shoal is "illegal" and "without any basis in fact."
The United States is not a member of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which is what set up the panel.
Along with its land issues with Japan and the Philippines, China also has ongoing marine conflicts with Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, and Brunei.
The US, Japan, and the Philippines held a "freedom of navigation" drill together in the South China Sea a week before Friday's meeting. Sending boats through China's exclusive economic zone is part of these drills, which Beijing has repeatedly called "provocations."
The statement from Friday says that the three countries will do something similar later this year.
