Philippines top diplomat tells Blinken Asia can ill afford escalation of Taiwan tensions

MANILA, Aug 6 (Reuters) – The Philippines foreign minister on Saturday told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the region can ill afford an escalation of regional tensions over the Taiwan Strait.

Blinken, in a virtual meeting with Philippines Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo, said Washington was determined to avoid a crisis. He also stressed that relations between the two defence treaty allies have never been more important.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)