WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The highest U.S. diplomat for East Asia will go to China beginning on Sunday, the State Division mentioned, simply days after President Joe Biden held a summit with the leaders of Japan and the Philippines that centered on China’s aggressive strikes within the South China Sea.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink will journey to China April 14-16, and White Home Nationwide Safety Council Senior Director for China and Taiwan Affairs Sarah Beran will accompany him, the division mentioned in an announcement.
They are going to meet with Chinese language officers “as part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and to responsibly manage competition,” the assertion mentioned.
The Philippines and China had a number of maritime run-ins final month that included using water cannon and heated verbal exchanges. The disputes heart on the Second Thomas Shoal, residence to a small variety of Filipino troops stationed on a warship that Manila grounded there in 1999 to bolster its sovereignty claims.
China claims nearly your complete South China Sea, together with the maritime financial zones of neighboring nations. The Second Thomas Shoal is inside the Philippines’ 200-mile (320-km) unique financial zone. A 2016 ruling by the Everlasting Courtroom of Arbitration discovered that China’s sweeping claims haven’t any authorized foundation.
