China's military conducts patrols in South China Sea, warns Philippines
BEIJING, June 15 (Reuters) - China's military held joint sea and air patrols in the South China Sea on Saturday, a spokesperson for the People's Liberation Army's Southern Theater Command said.
Spokesperson Tian Junli said in a statement on Sunday that the Philippines has courted countries outside the region to organise "joint patrols" and "raised security risks" in the region.
"The theater command forces remain on high alert, resolutely safeguarding China's national sovereignty and maritime rights," he said, adding that "all military activities that seek to stir up trouble in the South China Sea or create flashpoints are fully under control."
The Philippine embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
The Philippines and the United States conducted joint maritime drills in the South China Sea for a seventh time earlier this month.
Tensions have continued to run high between China and the Philippines over territorial disputes in the South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, including parts claimed by Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
In 2016 the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague ruled that China's claims were not supported by international law, a decision that Beijing rejects.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
UK ‘woefully' ill-protected against Chinese and Russian undersea cable sabotage
China and Russia are stepping up sabotage operations targeting undersea cables and the UK is unprepared to meet the mounting threat, according to new analysis. A report by the China Strategic Risks Institute (CSRI) analysed 12 incidents where national authorities had investigated alleged undersea cable sabotage between January 2021 and April 2025. Of the 10 cases in which a suspect vessel was identified, eight were directly linked to China or Russia through flag-state registration or company ownership. The involvement of 'shadow fleet' commercial vessels in these incidents is consistent with China and Russia's broader 'grey zone' strategy – a space between war and peace – which aims to coerce adversaries while minimising opportunities for response, the report claims. The patterns of activity – such as the involvement of Chinese vessels in suspicious incidents in the Baltic Sea, and Russian vessels near Taiwan – suggest possible coordination between Moscow and Beijing on undersea cable attacks, it said. It is estimated that up to 99% of intercontinental data transmission takes place through submarine cable systems, playing a vital role in civilian and defence infrastructure. Without undersea cables, much of the economy – from international banking and cloud computing to virtual communications and global logistics – would cease to function. The UK acts as a key hub in Euro-Atlantic cable infrastructure and is likely to become a frequent target for future sabotage operations. But a UK government submission to parliament's joint committee on the national security strategy admitted that it has limited capabilities to monitor commercial maritime traffic around undersea cables. The joint committee is mounting an investigation into the threat posed to the underseas cables and the possibility of more secure alternatives. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology submission to the committee noted that 'the UK has limited capabilities for monitoring general maritime and white [commercial] shipping traffic, as coastal radar only covers about 22% of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around the UK. 'The high volume of maritime traffic makes it challenging to identify every instance of abnormal maritime activity. As a result, the current capabilities cannot fully guarantee that all vessels adhere to UK laws and regulations, especially around sensitive infrastructure like undersea cables.' Andrew Yeh, the executive director of CSRI and author of the report, said: 'Undersea cables underpin prosperity and security in the digital age. We cannot afford to be naive about the unprecedented threat that China and Russia's grey-zone operations pose to the UK's undersea infrastructure. 'While well set up to deal with conventional threats, the UK's defence infrastructure is woefully inadequate in protecting against grey-zone tactics. The UK must bolster its monitoring and surveillance capabilities, while looking to partners such as Taiwan who have a wealth of experience in countering grey-zone threats.' The recent strategic defence review admitted that underwater cables were becoming an increasingly vulnerable maritime domain. Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion The UK is the landing point for 60 undersea cable systems, including nine out of the 15 undersea cables connecting North America to Europe. Only this month a Taiwanese court sentenced the Chinese captain of a ship to three years in jail after finding him guilty of intentionally damaging cables off the island in February. Proof of intent, as opposed to carelessness, is one of the difficulties in pursuing these cases in court. In the Taiwanese case, the Chinese captain said it was a case of negligence. Much of the law of the sea in relation to these highly sophisticated cables carrying hi-tech data is governed by the Cable Convention passed in 1884. Baltic Nato countries meeting in January vowed to boost patrol missions after several telecom and power cables were severed in the Baltic Sea in recent months, with experts and politicians accusing a Russian 'shadow fleet' of sabotage.
The Guardian
5 hours ago
- The Guardian
Majority of Australians think China will be world's most powerful country by 2035, poll finds
A majority of Australians expect China will be the most powerful country in the world by 2035 as trust in the US tumbles, new research has found. Just over one in three Australians (36%) trusted the US to act responsibly on the world stage, representing a 20-point fall from 2024 and the smallest proportion since the Lowy Institute began polling in 2005. The thinktank's 2025 report found only one in four respondents had any confidence in president Donald Trump's approach to world affairs – less than half of the 46% who expressed faith in Joe Biden the previous year. Confidence in the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, rose four points to 16%, and Australians were evenly split on whether Xi or Trump was a more reliable partner. Australians were just as likely to view China as an economic partner than as a security threat for the first time since 2020 – though a high proportion of voters still distrust China and believe it will become a military threat to Australia in the next 20 years. 'There's slightly more trust, slightly less threat perceptions, [but] it's still a pretty bleak picture for how Australians look at China,' said Ryan Neelam, the poll author and a director at the Lowy Institute. A majority of respondents believed the US would come to Australia's defence if it were attacked, with 63% agreeing, a drop from the 75% agreement recorded in similar questions in recent years. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email But Australians nonetheless continued to support the strong military relationship, despite a loss of trust likely inspired by Trump's 'shocking' and 'norm-breaking' foreign policy, according to Neelam. 'It's almost as if the Australian public are separating those two things in their minds: the instability and unpredictability of Trump's approach to world affairs, from the institution of the alliance.' Since the 2024 survey, the gap between Australians' trust in the US compared with China has more than halved, as perceptions of China continued to improve from their nadir in 2022, Neelam said. 'That's quite remarkable for Australia's key security ally to have such a low level of trust,' he said. 'The weight of expectation is that China will be more powerful and more predominant in the global system.' Just over one in four respondents believed the US would be the most important and powerful nation in 10 years' time, with more than half expecting China to take the lead. Four in five voters said the alliance with the US was important for Australia's security, similar to the support observed in 2023 and 2024. Support for the Aukus nuclear-powered submarine deal was also steady with two-thirds of those polled in favour, similar to the level observed since 2022. Coalition voters and residents of Queensland and Western Australia were especially supportive, each recording about four in five people in favour, while Victorians and Labor voters were more lukewarm, at three in five. Respondents were polled in March, prior to the US defence department's announcement of a review of the Aukus deal, which Anthony Albanese described as 'appropriate' ahead of a possible meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in Canada. Three in five people expressed confidence in Albanese's approach to world affairs in the Lowy poll, putting the prime minister just behind France's Emmanuel Macron and New Zealand's Christopher Luxon. Luxon was the most trusted world leader, though nearly a quarter of those polled expressed no view, most of whom saying they did not know who he was.
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Trump's tariff ultimatum forces country to promise to buy more American goods
Taiwan has promised to buy more American goods after Trump threatened the island nation with a 32 percent tariff. Taiwan's president Lai Ching-te said last month that the country would buy more American natural gas and oil, weapons and agricultural goods. The self-governing island is looking to form closer ties with the US as it faces rising pressure from China, which has threatened to annex Taiwan by force if necessary. Lai said Taiwan's promises would help create 'more balanced bilateral trade' as well as boost its energy autonomy and resilience. Lai also told the US congressional delegation he was hosting that Taiwan would support America's efforts to reindustrialize and lead the world in AI. Taiwan had a trade deficit of $116.3 billion with the US last year, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. As a result Trump proposed a 32 percent tariff against the island, which is currently on hold except for a 10 percent baseline duty, while negotiations take place. It comes as Taiwan's exports jumped 87.4 percent to $15.5 billion in May, as companies fired off shipments before tariffs hit. Both figures are a record, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Monday. Taiwan enjoys bipartisan support from the US, which sees providing Taipei with the means to defend itself against China as being in America's interest. Many politicians have argued that as well as arming Taiwan, close economic and trade ties with the US leave the island less vulnerable to economic coercion from Beijing. Taiwan's semiconductor giant TSMC recently invested $165 billion into building advanced chip factories in Arizona. The US is now the number one country for Taiwan's foreign investment and the island is the seventh largest importer of American agricultural goods. Trump first unveiled his 'reciprocal tariffs' on April 2, so-called 'liberation day.' The aggressive policies sent stocks sliding and caused a crisis in the bond market. Trump then backed down, bringing tariffs for most countries down to 10 percent while trade negotiations took place. The President then put the EU in his sights, threatening the bloc with a 50 percent tariff. He has since also put that threat on ice until July 9, and has said negotiations are going in a 'positive' direction. It comes as Trump declared a trade deal between the US and China 'done' on Wednesday. He said new rare earth minerals would be coming into the US from its top trade competitor. 'Our deal with China is done, subject to final approval with President Xi and me,' Trump posted on his social media site Truth Social on Wednesday morning. 'Full magnets, and any necessary rare earths, will be supplied, up front, by China.' Consumers are already beginning to feel the pinch from tariffs, with prices rising from grocery shelves to new cars. Toyota is the latest car manufacturer to warn that its popular products are about to become more expensive. Mark Templin, Toyota's chief operating officer for North America, said the company is planning price hikes in response to Trump's 25 percent tariff on imported vehicles and parts. Walmart has also confirmed that it will have to raise prices as a direct result of Trump's tariffs. The grocery giant — which imports 60 percent of its goods from China — said it is passing along the 'unprecedented' costs of Trump's trade war on to consumers.
