Wang Yi attends the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference with China on July 26, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has warned the Philippines over the U.S. intermediate-range missile deployment, saying such a move could fuel regional tensions and spark an arms race.

“The United States deployed its ‘Typhon Missile System’ to the Philippines as part of the joint military drills earlier this year. It was not fired during the exercises,” a Philippine military official later said, without giving details on how long it would stay in the country.

“China-Philippines relations are now at a crossroads and dialogue and consultation are the right way,” Mr. Wang told Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo during a meeting in Vientiane on July 26, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

Mr. Wang said there are challenges to maintain healthy relations between the two countries as Philippines has “repeatedly violated the consensus of both sides and its own commitments”.

“If the Philippines introduces the U.S. intermediate-range missile system, it will create tension and confrontation in the region and trigger an arms race, which is completely not in line with the interests and wishes of the Filipino people,” Mr. Wang said.

China and Philippines are locked in a confrontation in the disputed South China Sea and their encounters have grown more tense as Beijing presses its claims to shoals in waters that Manila says are well within its exclusive economic zone.

Mr. Wang said China has recently reached a temporary arrangement with the Philippines on the transportation and replenishment of humanitarian supplies to Ren’ai Jiao — also known as the Second Thomas Shoal — in order to maintain the stability of the maritime situation.