south china sea

World News

U.S. and Chinese defense chiefs hold first official meeting in Singapore

8:32am May 31, 2024

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart met for the first time in Singapore on Friday, as Washington and Beijing seek to head off potential conflict in the region.

An aerial view taken on March 9, 2023, shows Thitu Island in the South China Sea.

World News

On a remote island, a test of wills between the Philippines and China

8:14am April 11, 2024

by Emily Feng

About 250 Filipinos live on Thitu Island, the largest and most inhabited island of the Spratlys, in the South China Sea. But Chinese ships are never far away.

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A U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber flies during the Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition 2023 at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, South Korea, on Oct. 17, 2023.

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A Chinese fighter jet came within 10 feet of a B-52 bomber, U.S. military says

2:09am October 27, 2023

by The Associated Press

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 said.

Protesters wave flags and hold placards in front of the Chinese Consulate in Makati, Metro Manila on July 12, 2023, during a demonstration held to mark the seventh anniversary of an international arbitral ruling that voided China's historical claims to the South China Sea, including the nine-dash line.

World News

After a review, 'Barbie' movie will show in the Philippines, after all

3:15pm July 12, 2023

by Ashley Westerman

The country's film regulator has decided that a map shown in the movie does not depict China's controversial nine-dash line.

Margot Robbie poses for the media prior to a news conference of the movie Barbie in Seoul, South Korea, Monday. The film is to be released in the country on July 19.

World News

After Vietnam, the Philippines could be next to ban 'Barbie.' Here's why

5:17pm July 06, 2023

by Ashley Westerman

Film regulators in the Philippines are reviewing Barbie after a senator said a scene depicts a map that China uses to lay claim to nearly all of the South China Sea.

United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin walks past military guards during arrival honors at the Department of National Defense in Camp Aguinaldo military camp on Feb. 2, 2023 in Quezon City, Manila, Philippines.

The U.S. and the Philippines agree to a larger American military presence

8:34am February 02, 2023

by Ashley Westerman

The Department of Defense announced the move that is widely seen as a way to deter China's influence in the region amid a visit to the Philippines by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

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China's Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe speaks at a plenary session during the 19th International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-la Dialogue, Asia's annual defense and security forum, in Singapore, Sunday, June 12, 2022.

World News

China accuses the U.S. of trying to hijack support in Asia

9:41am June 12, 2022

by The Associated Press

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had stressed the need for multilateral partnerships in the Indo-Pacific, which China's defense minister suggested was an attempt to back his country into a corner.

The Seawolf-class fast-attack submarine USS Connecticut smacked an undersea mountain, the Navy says. The vessel is seen here leaving Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton for a trip across the Pacific Ocean in May.

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A U.S. submarine struck an underwater mountain last month, the Navy says

11:49am November 02, 2021

by Bill Chappell

An investigation found that the USS Connecticut "grounded on an uncharted seamount," the 7th Fleet said. Eleven crew members were injured in the Oct. 2 collision.

The USS Connecticut, seen near the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in 2016, collided on Oct. 2 with an unspecified underwater object in international waters in the South China Sea.

A U.S. Navy submarine collides with an underwater object in the South China Sea

4:08pm October 08, 2021

by Scott Neuman

A Defense Department official says nearly a dozen sailors were injured in the incident aboard the USS Connecticut. The U.S. 7th Fleet says the sub's nuclear power plant was not affected.

A U.S. Navy hovercraft prepares to hit the beach during amphibious-landing exercises as part of an annual joint U.S.-Philippine military exercise on the shores of San Antonio, facing the South China Sea, in Zambales province, Philippines, on April 11, 201

4 Things To Know After The Philippines Kept Its Pact With The U.S. Military

5:57pm August 06, 2021

by Julie McCarthy

After threatening since last year to cancel it, President Rodrigo Duterte decided to restore the agreement that enables U.S. forces to operate in the Philippines. Here's why that matters.