On Thursday, President Joe Biden and his Spanish equivalent, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, mainly focusing on the danger communist China poses to its companions in the South China Sea.
Following an extended visit by Kishida to Washington, which included his address to Congress and a condition supper, one of America’s highest accolades for a visiting head of government, the three countries attended the mountain, which was the first of its type. Before setting up a conversation with Biden and Kishida, Marcos arrived and had his own meeting with him and Biden differently.
The confrontational approach toward China’s belligerence in the area contrasted with the diplomatic attitude that Biden and his administration have shown toward China. In a phone call in early April, Bin Laden stated that he opposed “decoupling” financially from socialist China and that efforts to bolster partnerships with local nations were not “targeted against China.” Also, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, on a trip to China last year, insisted that most business between China and America was “beneficial and the great majority of it is uncontroversial”, opposing calling to control Chinese exposure to American businesses.
In comparison, Kishida is increasingly concerned at apartment that China is establishing a colony of its Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. In the Philippines this year, protesters demanded , Marcos do more to protect the sovereignty of the beach state,  , destroying , statues of Xi.
See: Unique companies – whether on foot or on bicycles – merge in Makati City on April 9, Araw ng Kagitingan, to protest China’s activities in the West Philippine Sea, including abuse against soldiers, scientists, and fisherman. tls: //t. co/06IIjzLbbs photograph. twitter.com/vGQQUDV91 Q
— Rappler ( @rapplerdotcom ) April 9, 2024
The Chinese government is attempting to colonize parts of both the South China Sea and the East China Sea, according to the joint speech, which addressed China directly as a menace to all three countries. Beijing’s Foreign Ministry accused the three countries of trying to “bully” its cousin and insisted China’s improper military development in the South China Sea was “beyond reproach.” Beijing responded with a furious rebuttal.
” We express our serious concerns about the People’s Republic of China’s ( PRC ) dangerous and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea”, the three leaders said in their statement. ” We are also concerned about the fortification of recovered capabilities and illegitimate sea claims in the South China Sea.”
The leaders expressed” major concern” over the PRC’s repeated obstructing Philippine vessels ‘ exercise of substantial lakes freedom of navigation and the disruption of supply lines to Second Thomas Shoal, which constitute unsafe and disruptive conduct.
They reaffirmed their” powerful opposition to any attempt by the PRC to formally alter the status quo in the East China Sea, including through activities that seek to destroy Japan’s long-standing and peaceful management of the Senkaku Islands.”
The Hague Permanent Court of Arbitration’s 2016 decision, which found China’s claims in the South China Sea to be unlawful, was confirmed in the statement. China claims almost the entirety of the sea, its islands and natural resources, through a map known as the “nine- dash line” which cuts into the sovereign territory of the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei, and Malaysia, and skirts the maritime border of Indonesia’s Natuna islands.
Filipino fisherfolk and activists take part in a protest condemning China’s maritime harassment, outside the Chinese Consulate on February 6, 2024 in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines. According to DICT spokesman Renato Paraiso, Chinese hackers attempted but failed to hack into the websites and email systems of the Philippine president and government officials, including the National Coast Watch and the Department of Information and Communications Technology ( DICT). The attacks, among others, targeted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s personal website, came as China’s tensions grew over the South China Sea disputes. ( Ezra Acayan/Getty )
” We call on the PRC to abide by the ruling”, the leaders of America, Japan, and the Philippines stated.
The” Luzon Economic Corridor,” an apparent attempt to challenge China’s Belt and Road Initiative ( BRI), a global infrastructure plan that used predatory loans to poor countries to be used on infrastructure projects, was another important topic raised in the extended statement. The Luzon project, named after the largest island of the Philippines, will offer” coordinated investments in high- impact infrastructure projects”.
The three leaders reportedly also addressed issues that are unrelated to their countries but are viewed as crucial for the Biden administration, such as the” climate crisis” and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
On Friday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman called the summit’s general discussion and the focus on China in particular, and issued an incendiary response.
We firmly oppose any actions that increase tensions and threaten other countries ‘ strategic security and interests. We are fervently opposed to forming exclusive groups in this area,” Mao rebuffed.
Mao asserted that the summit’s entirety was a” smear and attack against China” and repeatedly questioned the validity of the Hague decision.
Mao reaffirmed that China does not accept the relevant nations ‘ “groundless accusation and deliberate smears against us” on the East China Sea and South China Sea. China rejects any unilateral actions based on the illegal arbitral decision in the South China Sea. Generally speaking, the East China Sea and the South China Sea have a stable situation.
Chinese Coast Guard members confront Filipino fishermen off Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, also known as the West Philippine Sea, in this Sept. 23, 2015, file photo.  , ( Renato Etac, File/AP )
Mao criticized the three countries for also making reference to China’s false claims over the sovereign state of Taiwan, implying that there should be no underestimating the will and ability of the Chinese people to safeguard our sovereignty and territorial integrity. He claimed that China has “indisputable sovereignty” over the Japanese and Filipino islands that are discussed in the trilateral statement.
” The so- called arbitral award on the South China Sea is illegal, null and void”, she continued, answering a separate question about Kishida’s stay in Washington. The award shall in no way interfere with China’s territorial sovereignty or rights or interests in the South China Sea.
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