Canada and the Philippines, both staunch critics of China’s increasingly coercive actions in the disputed South China Sea, have signed a key defense agreement that will allow their forces to hold joint battle-readiness drills.

U_S_ Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says Washington and Beijing will establish military-to-military communications channels, adding that bilateral ties between the countries have “never been better.”.

Chinese coast guard ships have used powerful water cannons and rammed a Philippine government vessel near Thitu Island in the South China Sea.

China's coast guard has accused a Philippine ship of deliberately ramming one of its vessels near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.

The Philippines is protesting a plan by China to establish a nature reserve at one of the most hotly disputed shoals in the South China Sea and demanding that Beijing withdraw it immediately.

Australia’s defense minister and his Philippine counterpart are meeting in Manila for talks spotlighting their concern over Beijing’s actions in the South China Sea.

Australia has launched its largest military exercises with Philippine forces, involving over 3,600 personnel in live-fire drills and a beach assault near the South China Sea.

The Philippine military has blamed China for a collision between two Chinese navy and coast guard ships in disputed waters.

India and the Philippines have staged joint naval exercises in the disputed South China Sea for the first time, antagonizing China.

President Donald Trump says he's reached a trade agreement with Philippine leader Ferdinand Marcos Jr. following a meeting at the White House.

China’s Education Ministry has issued a safety warning for Chinese students in the Philippines, following what it describes as a series of criminal incidents targeting Chinese nationals.

The U.S. Pacific Fleet commander says China has failed to intimidate rival claimant states into surrendering their sovereign interests in the South China Sea despite its intensifying “bullying tactics” and the United States and other allied countries are ready to further boost deterrence against Beijing’s aggression.

Filipino forces and villagers have been struggling to live in Beijing's shadow in the disputed South China while fighting isolation on remote islands.

A Chinese ship has run aground in stormy weather in shallow waters off a Philippines-occupied island in the disputed South China Sea, prompting Filipino forces to go on alert.

Top security officials say China and North Korea’s support for Russia in its war against Ukraine has exposed how lines between regions have blurred, and the need for a global approach toward defense.

A World War II-era Philippine navy ship to be used as a target in a combat exercise by American and the Philippine forces accidentally sank hours before the mock assault, prompting the drill to be cancelled.

Thousands of allied American and Filipino forces have opened annual combat drills that will include simulating the defense of the Philippine archipelago and seas in a battle scenario that has antagonized China.

The United States, Japan and the Philippines have staged joint naval drills to boost crisis readiness off a disputed South China Sea shoal as a Chinese military ship kept watch from a distance.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the Trump administration will work with allies to ramp up deterrence against threats across the world, including China’s aggression in the South China Sea.

Fish sauce is an indelible part of Vietnam's culture and essential for its vibrant cuisine.

The Philippine defense chief has called China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea as “the biggest fiction and lie” that no Southeast Asian country will accept.

A Philippine official says U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to visit the Philippines, the first stop in his first trip to Asia next week, for talks that will include increasing deterrence against aggression in the disputed South China Sea.

Along with fulminating against the United States, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi reasserted China’s South China Sea claims, blasted Japan for its past aggression and covered a wide range of other issues during his annual meeting with journalists.

France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships are in the Philippines after holding combat drills with Filipino forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that will likely antagonize China.

A Chinese navy helicopter has flown within 10 feet of a Philippine patrol plane in a disputed area of the the South China Sea, highlighting Beijing's use of force in asserting its claims to the strategic waterway.

The Philippine coast guard says Chinese coast guard ships and a Chinese navy helicopter harassed a group of Philippine fisheries vessels conducting a scientific survey in a hotly disputed area of the South China Sea, forcing them to cancel the operation.

The Philippines has launched a comic book to counter what the country says is China’s disinformation campaign to push its expansive territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Southeast Asian foreign ministers met this year under the regional bloc’s new chair, Malaysia, seeking a breakthrough over Myanmar’s drawn-out civil war and territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Philippine officials say Chinese coast guard vessels backed by navy ships have fired powerful water cannons and blocked and sideswiped a Philippine patrol vessel at a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has condemned China's dangerous actions against the Philippines and renewed a warning that the United States would defend its treaty ally if Filipino forces come under an armed attack in the disputed South China Sea.

U.S. researchers have concluded that China has built a land-based prototype nuclear reactor to power future aircraft carriers.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signed two laws reaffirming the extent of his country’s maritime territories and right to resources, including in the South China Sea, where the new laws clash with Beijing’s extensive territorial claims.

Indonesian patrol ships drove a Chinese coast guard vessel away from a survey vessel in a disputed area of the South China Sea for the second time in three days, Indonesian authorities said Thursday.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Southeast Asian leaders Friday that the U.S. is concerned about China’s “increasingly dangerous and unlawful” activities in the disputed South China Sea during an annual summit meeting, and pledged the U.S. will continue to uphold freedom of navigation in the vital sea trade route.

Southeast Asian leaders have stepped up pressure on China to respect international law following clashes in the disputed South China Sea during annual summit talks, but Chinese Premier Li Qiang remains defiant as he blamed “external forces” for interfering in regional affairs.

A senior U.S. defense official says satellite imagery shows that China's newest nuclear submarine sank while under construction.

Two Philippine officials say that American and Filipino security officials have agreed to keep a U.S. mid-range missile system in the northern Philippines indefinitely to boost deterrance despite China’s expressions of alarm.

Chinese warplanes tailed a U.S. military aircraft through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, China’s military said.

A U.S. admiral says American forces are ready with a “range of options” to deal with increasing acts of aggression in the disputed South China Sea after consultations with treaty ally the Philippines.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has met with U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan as the latter wound up a three-day visit to Beijing with the stated aim of keeping communications open in a relationship that has become increasingly tense in recent years.

Indo-Pacific commander Adm. Samuel Paparo says the U.S. military is open to the possibility of escorting Philippine ships in the disputed South China Sea, depending on consultations under the allies’ 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.

Chinese coast guard ship have fired water cannons, blocked and rammed a Philippine fisheries vessel in the disputed South China Sea, where hostilities between the Asian neighbors have flared alarmingly at sea and spread into the air in recent weeks.

Officials say a Philippine fisheries bureau plane has been threatened by flares fired from a Chinese island.

The Philippine military chief has condemned what he said was the provocative actions of two Chinese air force aircraft that executed a dangerous maneuver and dropped flares in the path of a Philippine air force plane on routine patrol in the South China Sea.

A Vietnamese coast guard ship arrived in Manila on Monday for a four-day goodwill visit and joint exercises as the two countries attempt to put aside their own territorial disputes in the face of rising tensions with China over control of key features in the South China Sea.

Top diplomats from Japan, the U.S., Australia and India have compiled measures to reinforce maritime safety and cybersecurity and to support other Asia-Pacific countries in improving their defenses.

Philippine government personnel have transported food and other supplies to a fiercely disputed shoal occupied by a Filipino navy contingent without any clashes with China.

Southeast Asian top diplomats have condemned violence in Myanmar’s ongoing civil war and urged for “practical” means to defuse rising tensions in the South China Sea during the last of the three-day regional talks with allies including the U.S., Russia and China.

Top diplomats from Southeast Asia have met with China’s foreign minister for talks that come as friction escalates over Beijing's growing effort to press its sweeping maritime claims.

Southeast Asian foreign ministers have gathered in the capital of Laos for a regional forum that runs through Saturday.

China and the Philippines have reached a deal intended to end confrontations at the most fiercely disputed shoal in the South China Sea.

A recently signed agreement will open a direct line of communication between presidential offices of China and the Philippines to help prevent any new confrontation from spiraling out of control in the disputed South China Sea.

A suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels has targeted a Liberian-flagged tanker in the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

China and the Philippines have held a crucial meeting to try to ease mounting tensions following their worst confrontation in the disputed South China Sea last month.

The president of the Philippines says his country will not yield to “any foreign power” after Chinese forces injured Filipino navy personnel and damaged at least two military boats with machetes, axes and hammers in a clash in the disputed South China Sea, but added the Philippines will never instigate a war.

Japan and New Zealand have agreed in principle on an intelligence sharing pact as their leaders shared concern about the increasingly challenging security environment in the region, including closer ties between Russia and North Korea.

The Philippine military chief has demanded China return several rifles and equipment seized by the Chinese coast guard in a disputed shoal and pay for damage in an assault he likened to an act of piracy in the South China Sea.

Philippine security officials say Chinese forces have seized two Philippine rubber boats that were delivering food and other supplies to a military ship outpost in a disputed South China Sea shoal in a tense confrontation in which some Filipino navy personnel were injured.

China has been at odds with many other countries in the Asia-Pacific for years over its sweeping maritime claims, including almost all of the South China Sea, a strategic and resource-rich waterway.

China’s coast guard says a Chinese vessel and a Philippine supply ship collided near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.

Sweden’s defense chief has expressed alarm over Beijing’s repeated dangerous maneuvers against Philippine vessels in the disputed South China Sea, saying such actions threaten local and global security, undermine regional stability and underscore the need to invest “for our security and freedom.”.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has met with his Chinese counterpart as the two countries seek to repair lines of communications between their militaries that could be critical as tensions continue to rise between them in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Philippine defense secretary says it will continue to build security alliances and stage joint combat drills in disputed waters to defend its territorial interests.

Chinese coast guard ships have shadowed a group of Filipino activists and fishermen sailing on wooden boats toward a disputed shoal in the South China Sea which Beijing has fiercely guarded from what it regards as intruders.

U.S. and Philippine forces, backed by an Australian air force surveillance aircraft, have unleashed a barrage of high-precision rockets, artillery fire and airstrikes and sank a mock enemy ship as part of largescale war drills in and near the disputed South China Sea that have antagonized Beijing.

U.S. Marines and their Filipino counterparts have staged joint combat drills on the Philippines’ northernmost island along the strategic Bashi Channel off southern Taiwan, a flashpoint in the Washington-Beijing military rivalry.

Chinese coast guard ships have fired water cannons at two Philippine patrol vessels near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, damaging both, in the latest flareup in an increasingly tense territorial conflict.

American and Filipino forces have launched their largest combat exercises in years in a show of allied firepower that will include joint sails with the French navy and a ship-sinking drill near the disputed South China Sea that has alarmed Beijing.

One of China’s top military leaders has taken a harsh line on regional territorial disputes.

The U.S. 7th Fleet says a Navy P-8A Poseidon has flown through the Taiwan Strait.

The Biden administration is again reassuring the Philippines the U.S. commitment to the islands’ defense is steadfast amid increasing concerns about provocative Chinese actions in disputed areas of the South China Sea.

President Joe Biden says the U_S_ defense commitment to Pacific allies is “ironclad.”.

The head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command says he is “very, very concerned” about China’s aggression toward Philippine forces near disputed islands in the South China Sea.

China’s military says it has conducted air and sea patrols and that all activities that “disrupt the South China Sea” are under control.

The United States, Japan, Australia and the Philippines will hold their first joint naval exercises, including anti-submarine warfare training, in a show of force Sunday in the South China Sea where Beijing’s aggressive actions to assert its territorial claims have caused alarm.

The Philippine president says his government will take action against what he called dangerous attacks by the Chinese coast guard and suspected militia ships in the disputed South China Sea, saying, “Filipinos do not yield.”.

The Philippines has lodged its “strongest protest” against Beijing over a water cannon assault by the Chinese coast guard that injured Filipino navy crew members and damaged their boat in the disputed South China Sea.

Two Chinese coast guard ships have hit a Philippine supply boat with water cannons in the latest confrontation near a disputed South China Sea shoal, causing injuries to the Filipino navy crew members and heavy damage to the wooden vessel, Philippine officials said.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has underscored Washington’s “ironclad commitment” to help defend the Philippines in case of an armed attack against its forces.

The top American diplomat for East Asia and the Pacific is criticizing China for using intimidation tactics against other countries in the region to press its sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea.

The Philippine navy says it will not allow China to remove a Philippine military outpost in a fiercely disputed South China Sea shoal where four Filipino navy personnel were injured in a confrontation between Chinese and Philippine ships.

Singapore’s prime minister says Southeast Asian countries’ quest to reach agreement with China on a code of conduct in the contested South China Sea will take time, with difficult issues yet to be resolved despite recent efforts to accelerate the process.

China is increasing its defense budget by 7.2% this year, similar to last year's rise.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has told Australia’s Parliament that the strategic partnership between the two nations is more important than ever with the rule of law and peace in the region under threat from China.

A Filipino fishing boat captain is protesting the Chinese coast guard’s aggression in the disputed South China Sea where he asserts that Chinese officers forcibly drove him and his men away from a disputed shoal.

Germany’s top diplomat says China’s actions in the South China Sea violate the rights of Asian coastal states like the Philippines and threaten freedom of navigation, but adds that the territorial disputes have to be resolved peacefully because “the world doesn’t need another crisis.”.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi says the country will maintain military pressure on the Philippines amid a dispute over sovereignty in the South China Sea that could involve U.S. forces defending their treaty partner.

Philippine officials say the Chinese coast guard has targeted Philippine vessels with water cannon blasts and rammed one of them, causing damage and endangering Filipino crew members off a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.

The Philippines and its treaty ally, the United States, have separately condemned a high-seas assault by the Chinese coast guard and suspected militia ships that repeatedly blasted water cannons to block three Philippine fisheries vessels from a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.

Chinese naval vessels have become the first ships to dock at a new pier at a Cambodian naval base that the United States and some international security experts say is destined to serve as a strategic outpost for Beijing’s navy.

The Philippine coast guard has opened a new monitoring base on a remote island occupied by Filipino forces in the disputed South China Sea as Manila ramps up efforts to counter China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the strategic waterway.

Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr_ says the situation for his nation in the South China Sea “has become more dire.”.

As a U.S. Navy surveillance plane flew in circles, dozens of Chinese coast guard and accompanying ships chased and encircled Philippine vessels in the latest confrontation in the South China Sea.

A Chinese fighter jet came within 10 feet of an American B-52 bomber flying over the South China Sea, nearly causing an accident, the U.S. military says, underscoring the potential for a mishap as both countries vie for influence in the region.

The United States has renewed a warning that it would defend the Philippines in case of an armed attack after Chinese ships blocked and collided with two Filipino vessels in the South China Sea.

Philippine officials say a Chinese coast guard ship and an accompanying vessel rammed a Philippine coast guard ship and a military-run supply boat near a contested shoal.

Filipino officials say Canada will help the Philippines detect illegal fishing with its satellite surveillance system under a new agreement.

A Chinese coast guard ship came within a meter (3 feet) of colliding with a Philippine patrol ship it was trying to block in the South China Sea, in an alarming incident that intensified fears that territorial disputes in the waters could spark a larger crisis.

Two Philippine supply boats have breached a Chinese coast guard blockade in the South China Sea in a recurring confrontation near a disputed shoal some fear could spark a larger security crisis that could draw in the United States.

Thousands of soldiers from the United States, Indonesia, Australia and other allied forces demonstrated their armor capabilities in combat drills on the Indonesian island of Java at a time of increased Chinese aggression in the region.