Antony Blinken raised concerns about Beijing's “destabilizing activities” in the South China Sea during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Laos.

Vientiane: US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Laos on Saturday. During the meeting, Blinken expressed concern about Beijing's 'destabilizing activities' in the South China Sea, CNN reported. Despite continuing tensions between the two countries, the leaders tried to keep dialogue open.

Blinken met Wang in Laos on a tour of Asia amid intense US presidential election campaigning, which has renewed regional scrutiny over what the world will look like with a new administration in the White House, CNN reported.

The two leaders discussed bilateral, regional and global issues, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement. Open Indo-Pacific.

Blinken discussed China's support for Russia's defense industrial base at the meeting and warned Yi that the US would take “appropriate measures” if China did not end its support, according to Miller.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said Wang told Blinken that the US had a “wrong perception of China” and called for a return to a “rational and pragmatic China policy”.

However, according to the statement, CNN reported, the two will continue to communicate.

The first leg of Blinken's week-long visit, which includes stops in Vietnam, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore and Mongolia, comes amid continued tensions between the US and China despite efforts by US President Joe Biden's administration to stabilize rocky relations between the two. .

In recent years, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as China's increasingly assertive moves in the South China Sea and threats to Taiwan, have strained Washington-Beijing relations.

This week, the North American Aerospace Defense Command intercepted two Russian and two Chinese bombers flying near Alaska, in what a US defense official said was the first time aircraft from the two countries were intercepted while operating together, CNN reported.

Revised text: China's continued support for Russia in its attempts to infiltrate Ukraine has raised tensions not only for the United States and its allies, but also for the people of Ukraine. At a recent gathering of NATO chiefs, a joint declaration labeled Beijing as the main backer of Russia's hostilities against Ukraine highlighted China's substantial aid to Russian military infrastructure. In recent months, the US and the European Union have accused China of bolstering Russia. the defense sector, including exports of dual-use goods, and sanctioned dozens of companies in Hong Kong and mainland China to avoid broader measures imposed on Russia.

Beijing, however, has denied supplying the weapons and maintains tight controls on such items, CNN reported.

Beijing has sought to position itself as a neutral peace broker in the conflict, despite its political, economic and military ties to Moscow and Chinese leader Xi Jinping's apparently close friendship with Russia's Vladimir Putin.

Earlier this week, Wang told Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba that Beijing “supports all efforts that contribute to peace” – the first time China has hosted a top Ukrainian official since Moscow's invasion began nearly two and a half years ago.

However, both Putin and Russia's top diplomat, Sergei Lavrov, have been welcomed to Beijing several times since the attack, CNN reported.