“Secretary Blinken pledged to stand with Southeast Asian claimants in the face of PRC pressure,” it said, referring to the People’s Republic of China. China passed the legislation on Friday allowing its coastguard to use “all necessary means” to stop or prevent threats from foreign vessels, including demolishing other countries’ structures built on Chinese-claimed reefs. China claims almost all of the energy-rich South China Sea, which is also a major trade route. The United States, which has accused China of taking advantage of the distraction of the coronavirus pandemic to advance its presence in the South China Sea, has sent a carrier group through the waterway to promote “freedom of the seas”. A spokesman for President Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday the Philippines hoped no country would do anything to increase tension.

Source: bd News24 January 28, 2021 14:37 UTC