The US and China air global differences as their top diplomats meet for sixth time since last year

VIENTIANE, Laos (AP) — The United States and China on Saturday renewed their mutual grievances as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Chinese counterpart held their sixth meeting since last year amid an uncertain political situation in the U.S. and growing concerns about China’s increasing assertiveness in Asia and elsewhere.

Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met for roughly an hour and 20 minutes on the sidelines of an annual Southeast Asian regional security forum in Vientiane, Laos, at which tensions between China and U.S. ally Philippines over disputes in the South China Sea were a prime focus of discussion.

U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Blinken and Wang had had “an open and productive” discussion but had not reached any significant agreements on the issues that divide them most in the Indo-Pacific, Europe and the Americas.

“The United States will continue to take necessary actions to safeguard our interests and values, and those of our allies and partners, including on human rights,” Blinken told Wang, according to Miller.

Blinken “made clear that the United States, together with our allies and partners, will advance our vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific,” he said, highlighting recently aggressive Chinese actions toward Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing claims as part of the mainland and has vowed to reunify by force if necessary.

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