By Shannon Tiezzi
Foreign Minister Wang Yi is unlikely to sway any listeners with his defense of China’s actions.
As The Diplomat readers already know, the territorial disputes in the South China Sea were a major topic of discussion at the various ASEAN meetings last week, from the ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting to the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). China, which had previously requested that ASEAN stay away from the topic entirely, was not pleased to be so criticized (both obliquely and directly).
On August 6, China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, fired back at Beijing’s critics, particularly his counterparts from the Philippines (Albert del Rosario) and Japan (Fumio Kishida). The Chinese Foreign Ministry, which posted Wang’s remarks on its website, called his speech “an impromptu response… comprehensively elaborating China’s position and refuting the groundless accusations from the Philippines and Japan.”
Wang’s remarks boil down to two main points: there is no problem in the South China Sea, and the Philippines and Japan are more guilty of violating international law than China is.
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