“People in East Asian countries should be aware of and cherish the three-decade-long regional peace since the end of the Cold War, and efforts should be spared to prevent new conflicts from emerging in the South China Sea,” Liu told a panel discussion about the disputed waterway.
He warned: “The past year has witnessed closer military cooperation among the United States, Japan and the Philippines. Many are concerned that this would trigger another conflict in Southeast Asia.”
Liu also told the event: “Extraterritorial countries should support neighbouring countries of the South China Sea in their search for fair solutions through negotiation, instead of fanning the flames and creating risks.
“Countries should also avoid … [supporting] one side while suppressing the other.”
The resource-rich South China Sea, one of the world’s most important shipping lanes, is the subject of multiple overlapping claims. Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan all have claims.
Beijing claims the vast majority of the waters and rejected a 2016 international arbitration ruling that its claims were invalid.
What Philippine legal moves could mean for South China Sea dispute with Beijing
What Philippine legal moves could mean for South China Sea dispute with Beijing
It follows a series of similar clashes, where the two sides have traded accusations over who was to blame.
The latest episode also prompted the United States – which has a mutual defence treaty with Manila – and Japan to express support for the Philippines. South Korea also later weighed in, expressing “grave concerns” over the use of water cannons.
Separately on Thursday, the Chinese defence ministry accused Washington of stirring up trouble in the South China Sea.
“The US provoked the confrontation, backed up the Philippines, threatened and exerted pressure on China citing the so-called bilateral treaty, and sent military vessels to the South China Sea to stir up troubles,” Wu Qian, a spokesman for the ministry, said.
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Why is the Philippines aligning itself with the US after years of close China ties under Duterte
Why is the Philippines aligning itself with the US after years of close China ties under Duterte
He also urged Manila to realise that “provocations will only do them more harm than good, and soliciting foreign support will lead nowhere”.
Meanwhile, Nguyen Hung Son, vice-president of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, told the Boao Forum that the current stand-off in the South China Sea is “risky” and “easy to escalate but hard to de-escalate”.
He said modern communications technology and social media made it easy for the public to watch footage from these confrontations – and that could stir up nationalist sentiment on all sides.
“These live images are going to touch the emotions of every country that is involved,” Son said. “And that is going to put a huge pressure on the government to do something about it, making it impossible to reverse course and to de-escalate.”
