Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn.- VNA/VNS
HANOI (Vietnam News/ANN): Newly-appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn on Wednesday held separate online conversations with Australian foreign minister Marise Payne, Malaysian foreign minister Hishammuddin Hussein and Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin Jr.
During the conversations, Sơn said Australia, Malaysia, and the Philippines are important and reliable partners that share many strategic interests with Vietnam.
He expressed his satisfaction with positive development steps in Vietnam s Strategic Partnerships with Australia, Malaysia and the Philippines in the recent years, with political trust enhanced and trade and investment maintained despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Filipino reporters chased by armed Chinese ships in disputed South China Sea Sorry, but your browser needs Javascript to use this site. If you re not sure how to activate it, please refer to this site: https://www.enable-javascript.com/
Chinese vessels are seen anchored in a satellite image taken on March 23 at Whitsun Reef, around 320 km west of Bataraza, in Palawan, the Philippines, in the South China Sea. | MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES / VIA AFP-JIJI
BLOOMBERG Apr 10, 2021
The U.S. and Philippines have expressed concern over China’s decision to mass militia vessels in the South China Sea, as a Filipino civilian ship carrying local journalists reported it had been chased down by armed Chinese Navy vessels while sailing within its own exclusive economic zone on Thursday.
MANILA, Apr 10 (Bloomberg): Tensions are escalating over China’s move to mass militia vessels in disputed areas of the South China Sea, with the US and Philippines expressing renewed concern and an investigation underway into reports that armed Chinese navy ships chased down a civilian craft carrying a Filipino news crew.
Local broadcaster ABS-CBN claims the People’s Liberation Army Navy deployed two vessels carrying missiles to drive away the ship as it travelled across reefs and shoals close to the western island province of Palawan. The report adds it was the first recorded instance of a military maneuver against a civilian boat.
Filipino reporters chased by armed Chinese ships in disputed South China Sea japantimes.co.jp - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from japantimes.co.jp Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Photo of Chinese vessels spotted at the Julian Felipe Reef on March 27, 2021
(Photo courtesy of National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea / FILE PHOTO)
The latest Chinese activity in the disputed waters was among the issues discussed by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. during a telephone conversation Friday, April 9.
The two officials tackled their shared concerns and called on China to abide by the arbitral ruling that nullified its excessive claims in the disputed territory.
“Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin, Jr. Both expressed their shared concerns with the massing of PRC maritime militia vessels in the South China Sea, including at Whitsun Reef, and reiterated their calls on the PRC to abide by the 2016 arbitration ruling issued pursuant to the Law of the Sea Convention,” a statement from the US State Department read.