United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has told Southeast Asian leaders that Washington is “concerned” about Chinese expansionism in the South China Sea, pledging to uphold freedom of navigation in the waterways.
Blinken attended the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Vientiane, Laos, on Friday, condemning China’s “increasingly dangerous and unlawful actions” in the vital sea trade route following a series of violent confrontations with the bloc’s members that have threatened to spiral into a full-scale conflict.
