Blinken criticises Beijing's ‘illegal actions’ in South China Sea

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday criticised Beijing's ‘escalatory and illegal actions’ in the South China Sea, hours before a meeting with China's foreign minister.

Blinken is in the Lao capital Vientiane for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers' meeting.

The visit is part of an Asian tour aimed at strengthening regional ties vis-à-vis China.

Blinken promotes a ‘free and open’ Asia-Pacific region, a thinly veiled critique of China's regional economic, strategic and territorial ambitions.

The United States and ASEAN need to work together to ‘address challenges’, Blinken told ministers from the ten-member group, including ‘escalatory and illegal actions taken by China against the Philippines in the South China Sea in recent months’.

The Philippines has been embroiled for years in a territorial dispute with China over parts of a key trade sea lane.

On Saturday, the Philippines said it had successfully resupplied troops stationed on the Ayungin Shoal, called Second Thomas Shoal in English, a hotbed of violent clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels in recent months.