Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has warned of tension and mistrust amid reports China has installed weapons on all seven of its artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea. A US think tank has been tracking developments with satellite images and is confident in its assessment Beijing has deployed anti- aircraft and anti-missiles systems on […]

BEIJING (REUTERS, AFP) – China said Thursday (Dec 15) that the deployment of weapons in the South China Sea had “nothing to do with militarisation”, calling the construction of defensive facilities “normal”. Speaking at a regular press briefing, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told journalists that he was not aware of the report, but said […]

The United States is ready to confront China should it continue its overreaching maritime claims in the South China Sea, the head of the U.S. Pacific fleet said on Wednesday, comments that threaten to escalate tensions between the two global rivals. China claims most of the resource-rich South China Sea through which about $5 trillion […]