VIENTIANE — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was pleased to see the Philippines complete unimpeded a resupply mission on Saturday to its troops at a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, applauding its diplomacy with China over the issue.
Blinken made the remarks in opening a meeting with foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Laos.
The Philippine missions to the Second Thomas Shoal have caused months of heated confrontations between the two rivals, which last week announced an “arrangement” for the operations to take place to ease tensions, amid concerns in the region of an escalation.
—Reporting by Simon Lewis; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Himani Sarkar
