As Hegseth visits Manila, Beijing warns outsiders against meddling in South China Sea
“The South China Sea issue must be resolved without external interference and should not be exploited by outside forces. Those who willingly become pawns will inevitably be discarded,” Chen Xiaodong, China’s vice-minister of foreign affairs, said on Thursday, without naming the US or its treaty ally the Philippines.
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The visit sought to advance security objectives with Philippine leaders as Hegseth was expected to meet US and Philippine forces, according to the Department of Defence.
Beijing claims most of the South China Sea – claims that overlap with those of Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Brunei. Tensions have escalated over the strategic, resource-rich waterway – especially between Beijing and Manila – and it has become a flashpoint with potential to trigger a conflict.
Liu Zhenmin, who was foreign vice-minister in charge of South China Sea affairs before taking a senior United Nations role in 2017, told the panel that China and Southeast Asian countries needed to learn from the “painful lessons” of the Ukraine conflict.
“Countries in the region can maintain peace in the region if they cherish their own peace – and if the countries in the region rely on a major power to protect you, the risk will always be there. That’s what every Asean country has to seriously consider,” Liu said, adding that Vietnam had previously been invaded by two Western countries.
“I think this is a bitter lesson of the involvement of extraterritorial powers in Southeast Asia,” Liu said.