U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday he supported the resumption of bilateral talks between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea, following a ruling against Beijing over the dispute earlier this month.
China did not participate in and has refused to accept the July 12 ruling by the U.N.-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration, in which U.S. ally Manila won an emphatic legal victory.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had asked Kerry to lend his support for talks to restart between Manila and Beijing in a meeting between the two in the Laos capital of Vientiane on Monday.