The U.S. Air Force’s chief of staff says there are no plans to reduce freedom of navigation operations in or over the South China Sea, which China cites as the source of increased tensions in the region.
China said Tuesday that it "will not stand idly by" and will take countermeasures if the U.S. deploys intermediate-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region, which Washington has said it plans to do within months.
Your weekly look at recent developments in the South China Sea, where China is pitted against smaller neighbors in multiple disputes over islands, coral reefs and lagoons.
China has expressed anger over new U.S. arms sales to the self-governing island democracy of Taiwan and the passage last week of an American warship through the Taiwan Strait.
A Russian naval task force has arrived in the northern Chinese port of Qingdao ahead of joint naval exercises this week that reinforce the growing bond between Beijing and Moscow.