BEIJING: China hit back on Monday at US criticism that it restricts navigation and overflights in the South China Sea amid a festering marine territorial dispute with some of its neighbors.
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims.
Freedom of overflights and navigation doesn’t mean allowing foreign warships and military jets to violate other countries’ sovereignty and security, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement to Reuters on Monday, after US Secretary of State John Kerry accused China of restricting such movements in the region last week.
China sees freedom of navigation in the region as key because it is an important conduit for trade and natural resources, the ministry said.
Kerry told a meeting of regional leaders in Kuala Lumpur last week that China’s construction of facilities on man-made islands for “military purposes” was raising tension and risked “militarization” by other claimant states.
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China hits back at US criticism over S. China Sea
China hits back at US criticism over S. China Sea
Russian envoy reports ‘productive meeting’ with US negotiators
WASHINGTON: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy said Wednesday that he had joined a “productive meeting” with US negotiators, the first talks between Moscow and Washington since the start of the Iran war.
The discussions in Florida come after the United States lifted some sanctions on Russian oil earlier this week — imposed because of Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine — to ease prices as war engulfed the Middle East.
“Thank you, Steve, Jared, and Josh, for a productive meeting,” Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev posted on X, referring to US President Donald Trump’s roving global envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and White House Senior Adviser Josh Gruenbaum.
“The teams discussed a variety of topics and agreed to stay in touch,” Witkoff posted earlier.
Trump said this week that Putin, to whom he spoke on Monday, wanted to be “helpful” in relation to the Middle East war.
Dmitriev said after the Florida meeting that Washington was “beginning to better understand” the importance of Russian oil.
“We discussed promising projects that could contribute to the restoration of Russian-American relations and the current crisis on global energy markets,” he wrote in a Telegram post.
“Today, many countries, primarily the United States, are beginning to better understand the key, systemic role of Russian oil and gas in ensuring the stability of the global economy, as well as the ineffectiveness and destructive nature of sanctions against Russia.”
The discussions in Florida come after the United States lifted some sanctions on Russian oil earlier this week — imposed because of Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine — to ease prices as war engulfed the Middle East.
“Thank you, Steve, Jared, and Josh, for a productive meeting,” Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev posted on X, referring to US President Donald Trump’s roving global envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and White House Senior Adviser Josh Gruenbaum.
“The teams discussed a variety of topics and agreed to stay in touch,” Witkoff posted earlier.
Trump said this week that Putin, to whom he spoke on Monday, wanted to be “helpful” in relation to the Middle East war.
Dmitriev said after the Florida meeting that Washington was “beginning to better understand” the importance of Russian oil.
“We discussed promising projects that could contribute to the restoration of Russian-American relations and the current crisis on global energy markets,” he wrote in a Telegram post.
“Today, many countries, primarily the United States, are beginning to better understand the key, systemic role of Russian oil and gas in ensuring the stability of the global economy, as well as the ineffectiveness and destructive nature of sanctions against Russia.”
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