SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the U.S. deployment of intermediate-range missiles in the Philippines “undermines regional peace and stability,” the foreign ministry said on Sunday.
Speaking to South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul in New York on Saturday, Wang also called for avoiding “war or chaos on the Korean Peninsula,” the ministry said in a post on its website. .
The United States this year deployed the Typhon system, which can be equipped with cruise missiles capable of attacking Chinese targets. China has demanded its withdrawal and Russia has joined in condemning the first deployment of the system in the Indo-Pacific, accusing Washington of fueling an arms race.
Wang said the deployment “is not in the interest of countries in the region.”
Taiwan’s southern neighbor, the Philippines, which Beijing claims as its own territory, is an important part of US strategy in Asia and would be an indispensable staging point for the military to help Taipei in the event of a Chinese attack.
Wang said exchanges and cooperation between China and South Korea have become more active this year.