China slams US, South Korea and Japan over their statements on South China Sea

China on Monday (Aug 21) protested against a statement given by the US, Japan and South Korea wherein they criticised Beijing's “dangerous and aggressive behaviour” in the marine disputes relating to the East and South China Sea.

The statement came on Friday (Aug 18) during a summit hosted by US President Joe Biden to discuss a three-way security cooperation at the Camp David presidential retreat.

On Monday, China hit back at the leaders saying they "smeared and attacked China on Taiwan-related and maritime issues, grossly interfered in China's internal affairs and deliberately sowed discord between China and its neighbours."

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Addressing the media. foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said China expresses "strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition and has lodged solemn representations with relevant parties".

The Camp David summit marked the first official meeting between US President Joe Biden, his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk-yeol, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Trilateral meeting

The meeting comes in the wake of the thawing of relations between South Korea and Japan amidst China’s growing assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region also due to a string of recentNorth Korean missile tests.

“We are resolute in our determination to uphold regional security, strengthen Indo-Pacific engagement, and promote common prosperity,” the leaders said in a joint statement.

In the meeting, three countries agreed to a new “duty to consult” security pledge committing them to speak with each other in the event of a security crisis or threat in the Pacific.

The pledge seeks to acknowledge that they share “fundamentally interlinked security environments” and that a threat to one is “a threat to all,” a senior Biden administration official told AP news agency on the condition of anonymity.

Under the pledge, the three countries agree to consult, share information and align their messaging with each other in the face of a threat or crisis, the official said.

China, North Korea in focus

Despite it beingobvious, Biden maintained that the summit “was not about China”, rather it was focused on broader security issues.

But in their joint summit concluding statement, the three countries noted China’s “dangerous and aggressive” action in the South China Sea and said they “strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific.”

Yoon particularly highlighted the threat posed by North Korea, saying the three leaders had agreed to improve “our joint response capabilities to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, which have become sophisticated more than ever.”

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