Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has warned the Philippines over the U.S. intermediate-range missile deployment, saying such a move could fuel regional tensions and spark an arms race.

The United States deployed its Typhon missile system to the Philippines as part of joint military drills earlier this year. It was not fired during the exercises, a Philippine military official later said, without giving details on how long it would stay in the country.

China-Philippines relations are now at a crossroads and dialogue and consultation are the right way, Wang told the Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo on Friday during a meeting in Vientiane, the capital of Laos where top diplomats of world powers have gathered ahead of two summits.

Wang said relations between the countries are facing challenges because the Philippines has "repeatedly violated the consensus of both sides and its own commitments", according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.

"If the Philippines introduces the U.S. intermediate-range missile system, it will create tension and confrontation in the region and trigger an arms race, which is completely not in line with the interests and wishes of the Filipino people," Wang said.

The Philippines' military and its foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wang's remarks.

China and the Philippines are locked in a confrontation in the South China Sea and their encounters have grown more tense as Beijing presses its claims to disputed shoals in waters within Manila's its exclusive economic zone.

Wang said China has recently reached a temporary arrangement with the Philippines on the transportation and replenishment of humanitarian supplies to Ren'ai Jiao in order to maintain the stability of the maritime situation, referring to the Second Thomas Shoal.

Philippine vessels on Saturday successfully completed their latest mission to the shoal unimpeded, its foreign ministry said in a statement.

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China, US spar over South China Sea at Laos talks

The top diplomats of China and the US sparred on Saturday over the South China Sea, where Beijing is locked in a territorial dispute with US treaty ally the Philippines.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi met on the sidelines of a foreign ministers meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Laos.

The US hailed the meeting as "open and productive," after Blinken had criticised Beijing's "escalatory and unlawful actions" in the South China Sea.

Chinese and Filipino ships have clashed in the waterway, fuelling fears of a conflict that could drag in the US due to its mutual defence treaty with Manila.

The US should "refrain from fanning the flames, stirring up trouble and undermining stability at sea," Wang said at the meeting, according to a foreign ministry statement.

"The risks and challenges facing China-US relations are still rising," he said.

Blinken also raised "US concerns about provocative actions" by China, including a simulated blockade of Taiwan following the May inauguration of President Lai Ching-te.

China claims the democratic island as its territory and slammed Lai's inauguration speech as "confession of independence."

"Whenever the promoters of Taiwanese independence will make a provocation, we will respond with a countermeasure," Wang said, according to Beijing's foreign ministry.

During the meeting, which a State Department official said lasted one hour and twenty minutes, Blinken also raised US concerns over China's support for Russia as it wages war in Ukraine.

The two had had not arranged another meeting.

- Stormy seas -

Beijing claims the South China Sea -- through which trillions of dollars of trade passes annually -- almost in its entirety despite an international court ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

A Filipino sailor lost a thumb in the latest June 17 confrontation when Chinese coast guard members wielding knives, sticks and an axe foiled a Philippine Navy resupply attempt.

On Saturday, Manila said it had successfully resupplied troops on the Second Thomas Shoal -- the focus of clashes in recent months -- under a deal agreed with Beijing.

According to a Chinese foreign ministry statement released later, Wang said the deal was a "temporary arrangement... to manage the situation," without giving details.

On Friday, Wang called on the Philippines to "honour its commitments" under the deal rather than "backtracking or creating complications", warning Beijing would "respond resolutely" to any violation.

Wang also warned the Philippines over deploying a US medium-range missile system on its soil, saying it would "create tension and confrontation in the region and trigger an arms race."

The US Army said in April it had deployed the Mid-Range Capability missile system in the northern Philippines for annual joint military exercises.

Philippines military officials later said the system would be removed from the country.

- China, Russia talk security -

Blinken's stop in Laos is part of a multi-nation Asia visit aimed at reinforcing regional ties in the face of Beijing's growing assertiveness, including in the South China Sea, and its deepening ties with Moscow.

Blinken arrived in Laos two days after the foreign ministers of China and Russia met with the 10-nation ASEAN bloc -- and each other on the sidelines of the meeting.

On Thursday, Wang met Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Vientiane and discussed "building a new security architecture for Eurasia", according to Moscow's foreign ministry.

The pair also agreed to jointly "counter any attempts by extra-regional forces to interfere in Southeast Asian affairs", it said.

China has a strong political and economic partnership with Russia, with NATO members labelling Beijing as a "key facilitator" of Moscow's involvement in the war in Ukraine.

- Myanmar -

A joint communique released by ASEAN on Saturday expressed the bloc's "deep concern over the escalation of conflicts" in member-state Myanmar.

The country has been ravaged by violence since the military seized power in 2021, sparking renewed fighting with established ethnic minority armed groups and dozens of newer "People's Defence Forces".

ASEAN has spearheaded so far unsuccessful diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis, with a five-point peace plan agreed between the junta and the bloc now moribund.

The five-point consensus "remains our main reference to address the political crisis," the joint communique said.

Myanmar's junta has been banned from high-level ASEAN summits over its coup and crackdown on dissent, in which rights groups say it may have committed war crimes.

Two senior bureaucrats represented Myanmar at the Laos talks.

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Blinken and Wang discuss Taiwan, China's support for Russia

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated Washington's concerns over Beijing's actions toward Taiwan and its support for Russia's war in Ukraine as he met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Saturday.

Blinken, who earlier called out China for escalating maritime tensions with the Philippines, talked extensively with Wang about Taiwan and Beijing's recent "provocative" actions toward the democratically governed island, a senior U.S. State Department official said.

Those actions included a simulated blockade during the inauguration of Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, the official said.

Blinken and Wang agreed to keep making progress on their countries' military-to-military ties, but did not discuss nuclear arms control talks, which China has halted in protest over Washington providing arms to Taiwan, the official said.

"In every discussion, Taiwan is the issue that they care most about. They see it as ... an internal China issue," said the official, who briefed reporters travelling with Blinken.

China's government considers Taiwan inviolable Chinese territory, which Taiwan rejects.

Wang told Blinken that Taiwan was part of China and "was not and will not be a country", and Beijing would counter provocations by forces advocating Taiwan's independence, according to a foreign ministry statement.

He said that though communication channels between China and the United States were open, Washington had intensified its efforts to contain and suppress Beijing.

"The risks facing Sino-U.S. relations are still accumulating and the challenges are rising and ties are at a critical juncture of halting their decline and achieving stability," Wang said.

'NO COMMITMENT' ON RUSSIA SUPPORT

The two talked for one hour, 20 minutes on the sidelines of a regional summit in Laos, in their sixth meeting since June 2023, when Blinken visited Beijing in a sign of improvement in strained relations between the world's two biggest economies.

The two did not set a date for their next meeting, the official said.

Blinken is touring East Asia in a bid to reassure countries close to China of U.S. commitment, despite political uncertainty at home. He travelled to Vietnam later on Saturday and was set to hold security talks alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Japan and the Philippines in the coming days.

Blinken conveyed to Wang that U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, both believed in the importance of stability in the U.S.-China relationship, and that a rules-based order must be upheld, the official added.

Blinken also discussed China's support for Russia's defence industrial base and warned of further U.S. actions if China does not curtail that, according to the official.

Washington has levied sanctions at targets including China-based companies selling semiconductors to Moscow, as part of an effort to undercut the Russian military machine waging war on Ukraine.

"There was no commitment by the Chinese to take action," the official said.

Blinken also raised with Wang U.S. concerns over human rights in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Tibet, and stressed the need for more progress from Beijing on counter narcotics including fentanyl precursors coming out of China.

The two also discussed a recent agreement between Palestinian factions brokered by Beijing, the official said, casting doubt on how effective that deal could be at settling the bitter rivalry between Fatah, which runs the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas, which ran the Gaza strip before it launched attacks on Israel on Oct. 7 sparking the current bloodshed.

"We've seen a number of purported reconciliations before that have not proven to bear fruit," the official said.

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