China tells US: Don't take sides on SCS row

The United States should not instigate trouble in the South China Sea or take sides on the issue, the Chinese embassy said yesterday.

- PIA LEE-BRAGO

The embassy issued the statement as it opposed the “thinly veiled threat” of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) with the Philippines and defend its ally in the face of any aggression in the South China Sea.

“We firmly oppose the groundless accusations made by Secretary Blinken about China’s legitimate and lawful actions in the South China Sea and his thinly veiled threat to invoke the so-called MDT obligations,” the embassy said, referring to the US treaty with the Philippines as a “vestige of the Cold War.”

“The military cooperation between the US and the Philippines should not undermine China’s sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea,” it added.