South China Sea

Jose Manuel Romualdez said the U.S. would increase the number of ships in the South China Sea "to protect the seaway" from Chinese threats to other nations' sovereignty.

"We have a serious commitment to Taiwan being able to defend itself," Biden's secretary of state said.

Lawmakers in Taipei were told that Taiwanese maritime forces would shoot down Chinese drones if the military hardware crossed into the territorial airspace of its South China Sea islands.

Taiwan's coast guard has predicted more maritime PLA activity as relations between Taipei and Washington continue to warm.

The simultaneous military drills were announced ahead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's visits to Japan and South Korea this week.

The U.S military carried out "intensive military activities in the South China Sea" last year despite the global pandemic, according to a report by a Beijing-based think tank.

U.S. naval deployments are becoming more frequent and focused on China, said maritime specialist Hu Bo.

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen remarked on the South China Sea after she heard a specially commissioned report on the security situation in the region on Wednesday.

The governments of Taiwan and China are monitoring each other's military activity as both countries announce a string of exercises for March.

USS Russell's deployment to the contested waters is the second freedom of navigation operation in the region since Joe Biden took office.

"China will continue to take necessary measures to firmly defend national sovereignty and security and work together with regional countries to safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said.

A Taiwan Air Force spokesperson told Newsweek it started publishing U.S. aircraft activity near the island in order to make developments in the Taiwan Strait "more transparent."

The call between Blinken and his counterpart in Manila comes in the wake of the Philippines' filing of a diplomatic complaint against a new Chinese coast guard law.

Following the start of sea trials for China's second Type 075 helicopter carrier, Chinese media outlets likened the country's shipbuilding speed to "cooking dumplings."

While the China accused the U.S. Navy of unauthorized entry into its territorial waters in the South China Sea, the U.S. Seventh Fleet said it was exercizing its right to freedom of navigation.

Beijing deployed its newest aircraft carrier south through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, prompting a response from Taipei.

The People's Liberation Army combat exercises were conducted as USS Makin Island and USS Somerset entered the South China Sea on Sunday, Chinese state-owned media reported.

Delfin Lorenzana has pointed to increased tensions in the South China Sea, adding that his country would be in the line of fire.

China's second aircraft carrier—its first domestically produced one—set sail for its latest sea trials on Tuesday.

Author, commentator and Newsweek columnist Gordon G. Chang debates NYU School of Law professor and Council on Foreign Relations adjunct senior fellow Jerome Cohen.

The way to stop Xi Jinping is to make clear that he will have to go through the U.S. and its friends in order to take Taiwan.

The quandary of Taiwan, a pivotal issue for U.S.-China relations, calls for caution and nuance, not recklessness.

The South China Sea remains tense amid disputes regarding Beijing's territorial claims over the region's busy shipping routes and potentially lucrative natural resources.

China is said to have told its military not to fire first in the South China Sea as tensions with the U.S. rise over the disputed waters.

The South China Sea has emerged as a flashpoint between China and the U.S., amid Beijing's efforts to fully control the disputed region.

President issued his statement on China as tensions increased between the countries over a territorial dispute.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that the U.S. does not recognize most of Beijing's territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea.

The U.S. must combat Beijing's attempted takeover of leading international organizations.

The U.S. conducted military drills in the area over July 4th and Beijing said Washington had "ulterior motives" for doing so.

Beijing is conducting its own military drills in the region near the disputed Paracel Islands.