France’s president hosted China’s leader at a remote mountain pass in the Pyrenees on Tuesday for private meetings after a high-stakes state visit in Paris dominated by trade disputes and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The clear and present maritime threat from China in the South China Sea is compelling the Philippines to step up its newly-announced defense strategy and modernization of its arsenal.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said on Monday the Philippines would not use water cannons or any offensive weapons in the South China Sea, and the last thing it wanted was to raise tensions in the strategic waterway.
A Chinese fighter jet endangered an Australian military helicopter during an “unsafe” and “unacceptable” confrontation over the Yellow Sea, Australia said on Monday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for closer ties with Europe on Monday, before a meeting with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Paris.
U.S. Marines and their Filipino counterparts darted out of Black Hawk helicopters during combat drills Monday in the Philippines’ northernmost island town along the strategic Bashi Channel off southern Taiwan – a flashpoint in the military rivalry between Washington and Beijing.