US renews call on China to stop aggressive actions in disputed sea, where hostilities have flared

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The United States on Friday renewed its call on China to stop its aggressive actions in the South China Sea, saying a broader web of security alliances has emerged to preserve the rule of law in the disputed waters.

Washington’s top diplomat in Manila was joined by counterparts from key Western and Asian allies, including Japan and Australia, in a Manila forum to express alarm over increasing hostilities in the contested waters, particularly between China and the Philippines. They committed to help defend a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific region.

In the worst confrontation so far, Chinese coast guard personnel armed with knives, spears and an axe aboard motorboats repeatedly rammed and destroyed two Philippine navy supply vessels on June 17 in a chaotic faceoff at the disputed Second Thomas Shoal that injured Filipino sailors and led to the seizure of seven Philippine navy rifles.

China and the Philippines blamed one another for the incident, the latest in a series of high-seas confrontations since last year. Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have been locked in the decades-long territorial conflicts.

“With the backing of an increasingly interconnected latticework of alliances and partnerships, the United States continues to urge the PRC to cease escalatory and dangerous harassment of Philippine vessels lawfully operating in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone,” U.S. Ambassador MaryKay Carlson told the forum, referring to the People’s Republic of China.

China should “cease interfering with freedom of navigation and overflight of all states lawfully operating in the region,” Carlson said. “The volume of condemnation from the international