East China Sea

Philippines to be involved in war over Taiwan, despite PRC protests: Marcos

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Monday his country would inevitably be drawn kicking and screaming into any war over Taiwan due to its proximity to the self-ruled island and the presence of large numbers of Filipino workers there, despite China's strong protest over such remarks. Marcos also told a news conference that the Philippines' coast guard, navy and other vessels defending its territorial interests in the South China Sea would never back down and would stand their ground in the contested waters after the Chinese coast guard on Monday staged dangerous blocking maneuvers and used a powerful water cannon to try to drive away Philippine vessels from the hotly disputed Scarborough Shoal. It's the latest flare-up of long-simmering territorial disputes in the busy waterway, a key global trade route, where overlapping claims between China and the Philippines have escalated in recent years. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also lay claims to parts of the contested .

Trump to host Philippine president to discuss trade, security in Asia

President Donald Trump will host his Philippine counterpart in the White House very soon to discuss how the longtime treaty allies can further deepen their security and economic engagements, the Philippine ambassador to the US said Friday. No date has been specified for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s meeting with Trump in Washington but Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez said that it would happen very soon this month. The allies have boosted mutual defense engagements, including large-scale combat exercises in the Philippines, to strengthen deterrence against China's increasingly aggressive actions in the region. Among the proposed topics for discussion is strengthening peace through deterrence, Romualdez told The Associated Press by telephone, echoing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth 's remarks about the US military's plan to ratchet up deterrence against China's increasingly assertive actions in the disputed South China Sea by intensifying military and defense engagements with the ..

Quad countries are major maritime partners, says US State dept official

US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mignon Houston said that Quad countries understand the maritime issues that countries face

QUAD foreign ministers concerned about East and South China sea situation

The leaders expressed their support for ASEAN and its centrality, the Pacific Islands Forum and Pacific-led regional groupings, as well as the Indian Ocean Rim Association

Japan, China accuse each other of airspace violations near disputed islands

Japan and China are accusing each other of violating the airspace around the Japanese-controlled East China Sea islands that Beijing also claims. Japan's Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that it has protested to Beijing after a Chinese helicopter that took off from one of China's four coast guard boats had entered Japan's territorial waters around the Senkaku island, violating the Japanese airspace around them for about 15 minutes on Saturday. In response to the airspace intrusion, Japan's Self-Defence Force scrambled fighter jets, the Defence Ministry said. China routinely sends coast guard vessels and aircraft into waters and airspace surrounding the islands, which China calls the Diaoyu, to harass Japanese vessels in the area and force Japan to scramble jets in response. The latest territorial flap comes as Japan and China were appearing to have warm ties as both countries seek to mitigate damages from the U.S. tariff war. The Japanese Foreign Ministry said it lodged

Day after military exercise, China conducts live-fire drills near Taiwan

The US government condemned the military drills, with the State Department issuing a statement calling China's actions "aggressive"

Taiwan tracks 18 Chinese military aircraft, 8 vessels near its territory

So far in July, the Taiwan's MND has detected Chinese military aircraft 294 times and naval ships 84 times

Chinese coast guard ships blast Philippine boat with water cannon

Two Chinese coast guard ships fired at a Philippine supply boat with water cannon on Saturday in the latest confrontation near a disputed South China Sea shoal, causing heavy damage to the wooden vessel, Philippine officials said. It was not immediately clear if the Philippine navy crew was injured, or whether their damaged boat, the Unaizah May 4, managed to maneuver past the Chinese coast guard blockade to deliver supplies to Philippine forces manning a territorial outpost in the nearby Second Thomas Shoal. It's the second time this month the Unaizah May 4 has been damaged during an attempt to resupply the outpost. The shoal has been occupied by a small contingent of Philippine navy personnel on a marooned warship since the late 1990s, but has recently been surrounded by Chinese coast guard and suspected militia vessels in an increasingly tense territorial standoff. Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims in the ...

China seen using threats, money and pressure to influence Taiwan elections

Using military threats, diplomatic pressure, fake news and financial inducements for politicians, China is being accused of deploying a broad strategy to influence voters in Taiwan's elections to pick candidates who favor unification. China's ultimate goal is to take control of the self-governing island democracy, whose high-tech economy supplies key components for computers, cellphones and other electronic devices and ships much of the world's goods out from the Taiwan Strait. Beijing has long insisted Taiwan is part of China and must be regained, by military force if necessary, regardless of the views of the island's people. Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu says China's global objective is that they want to use Taiwan as a test ground. If they are able to successfully shape the results of the Taiwan elections, they will try to apply their tactics on other countries. China has been sending warships and fighter jets near Taiwan on a near-daily basis in recent years, hoping to ..

Earthquake in China kills at least 134 people; deadliest in 9 years

A strong overnight earthquake rattled a mountainous region of northwestern China, authorities said on Tuesday, reducing homes to rubble, leaving residents outside in a below-freezing winter night and killing 131 people in the nation's deadliest quake in nine years. The magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck just before midnight on Monday, injuring more than 700 people, damaging roads and knocking out power and communication lines in Gansu and Qinghai provinces, officials and Chinese media reports said. As emergency workers searched for the missing in collapsed buildings and at least one landslide, people who lost their homes spent a cold winter night in tents at hastily erected evacuation sites. I just feel anxious, what other feelings could there be? said Ma Dongdong, who noted in a phone interview that three bedrooms in his house had been destroyed and a part of his milk tea shop was cracked wide open. Afraid to return home because of aftershocks, he spent the first night in a field wit

China appears to be building an airstrip on disputed South China Sea island

China appears to be constructing an airstrip on a disputed South China Sea island that is also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan, according to satellite photos. The work on Triton island in the Paracel group mirrors construction on seven human-made islands in the Spratly group to the east which have been equipped with airstrips, docks and military systems, although it currently appears to be somewhat more modest in scale. China claims virtually the entire South China Sea as its own, denying the claims of others and defying an international ruling invalidating its assertion. Satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC analysed by the by The Associated Press show construction on the airstrip first visible in early August. News website The Drive first reported on the satellite images Tuesday. The runway, as currently laid out, would be more than 600 meters (2,000 feet) in length, long enough to accommodate turboprop aircraft and drones, but not fighter jets or bombers. Also visible are large .

Japan to deploy stealth fighters in East China Sea from 2024

Japan will deploy the F-35B stealth fighter aircraft for the first time from 2024, a decision strongly influenced by the perceived threat posed by China's military

Two Chinese ships enter Japan's territorial waters off Senkaku Islands

In yet another case of illegal intrusion by Beijing, two Chinese government vessels entered Japan's territorial waters off the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea on Monday morning

Japan, China agree to restart business travel, coordinate on East China Sea

The two-day visit to Tokyo by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi comes amid growing concerns over Beijing's assertiveness in the region.

Japan protests against Chinese warship in disputed waters

This was the first time a Chinese frigate entered the contiguous zone, Yoshitomo Morii said

Japan protests as Chinese navy sails near disputed isles

Russian naval ships were also seen in the area around the same time