Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday touted a US strategy to deepen its Asian treaty alliances, offering to boost defence and intelligence work with partners in an Indo-Pacific region increasingly concerned over China’s “aggressive actions”.
During a visit to Indonesia, Blinken described the Indo-Pacific as the world’s most dynamic region and said everyone had a stake in ensuring a status quo that was without coercion and intimidation, in a barely veiled reference to China.
He said the United States, its allies and some South China Sea claimants would push back against any unlawful action.
“We’ll work with our allies and partners to defend the rules-based order that we’ve built together over decades to ensure the region remains open and accessible,” he said in a speech at a university.
“Let me be clear: the goal of defending the rules-based order is not to keep any country down. Rather, it’s to protect the right of all countries to choose their own path, free from coercion and intimidation.”
China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its own, despite some overlapping claims with other coastal states and an international tribunal that ruled that China’s vast claim has no legal basis.
Read more: Beijing, Washington argue over naval activity in South China Sea
Beijing has rejected the US stance as interference from an outside power that could threaten Asia’s stability. China’s foreign ministry had no immediate comment on Blinken’s remarks.
Blinken is making his first visit to Southeast Asia since President Joe Biden took office in January, a trip aimed at shoring up relations after a period of uncertainty about US commitment to Asia under the administration of Donald Trump.
