United States Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink has said over the weekend that China’s recent actions in the Second Thomas Shoal (known as Ayungin Shoal in the Philippines) were “deeply destabilizing.”
Kritenbrink expressed deep concern over China’s “illegal and irresponsible” behavior during his recent visit to Hanoi, amid escalating tensions between China and the Philippines in regional waters, where Vietnam is also a claimant.
“I wanna underscore the depth of our concern by many of the actions that we have seen that People’s Republic of China did in the South China Sea. We think that China’s action, particularly in its recent actions around Second Thomas Shoal in the Philippines, have been irresponsible, aggressive, dangerous, and deeply destabilizing,” Kritenbrink said on Saturday.
“Many of China’s actions that we have seen are also illegal. It is a great concern for the entire region,” he added.
Kritenbrink’s visit to Hanoi aimed to reinforce the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
He emphasized that “every country in the region, including China, needs to respect international law and behave responsibly in the maritime domain rather than taking steps that undermine peace and stability across the South China Sea.”