Manila says it is, alongside allies, ready to "counteract" any attempt by Beijing to restrict flights in airspace over the disputed South China Sea.

The Philippines and its security allies would take measures to counter any attempt by China to impose an air defense zone or restrict freedom of flights over the South China Sea, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said Wednesday,

Last week, Canberra rebuked Beijing for "unsafe" military conduct, accusing a Chinese fighter jet of dropping flares near an Australian air force plane patrolling the South China Sea. Beijing swiftly hit back, accusing the Australian plane of "violating ...

China has monitored a Philippine civilian vessel supplying a warship at the contested Second Thomas Shoal. China urges cooperation from the Philippines and to cease exaggerating tensions. The Philippine embassy in Beijing has yet to comment on the situation.

China’s defense spending is to rise 7.2 percent this year, the same as last year, Beijing said yesterday, as its armed forces undergo rapid modernization and eye deepening strategic competition with the US.

In the early 2000s, Russia and China had heeded US preferences regarding the Korean Peninsula by engaging in multilateralism with the Six-Party Talks to deal

As Washington retreats from the international stage, Beijing is advancing — militarily at least. China now has the world’s largest maritime fighting force, with 234 vessels compared to the US Navy’s 219. It’s also producing more warships at its shipyards at a faster pace; about 70% were launched after 2010, compared to 25% for the US Navy.

China said Wednesday it will increase its defense budget 7.2% this year, as it continues its campaign to build a larger, more modern military to assert its territorial claims and challenge the U.S. defense lead in Asia.

Recent unprecedented live-fire drills by China's navy in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand were "totally in line with international law", a spokesperson for its defence ministry said on Thursday.