Russia, China warn US over perceived Asia meddling

The foreign ministers of Russia and China voiced mutual support Friday as they seek to counter the influence of Washington and its allies, particularly in Asia, denouncing what they see as outside interference in the South China Sea and Korean Peninsula, CBS reported Friday.

Following talks in Beijing, Russia's Sergey Lavrov and China's Wang Yi expressed opposition to the US deployment of an anti-missile system in South Korea and said non-claimants should not take sides in the dispute over maritime territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Despite endorsing United Nations Security Council sanctions against North Korea over its missile launches and nuclear tests, the two strongly criticized the proposed deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, system.

"Relevant countries shouldn't use Pyongyang's acts as a pretext to increase their military presence on the Korean Peninsula," Lavrov told a joint news conference. 

"We believe the possible deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system won't resolve this problem."

Both Russia and China, North Korea's now largely estranged ally, see the deployment as exceeding what is necessary to defend against any North Korean threat and would "directly affect strategic security of Russia and China," Wang said.

Source ; MENA