China has been a fierce critic of sweeping U.S. tariffs that Trump announced on April 2. He later delayed the implementation of most but China, which has said it will respond with its own tariffs on U.S. imports, now faces a deadline next month to negotiate a deal.

The U.S. Pacific Fleet commander says China has failed to intimidate rival claimant states into surrendering their sovereign interests in the South China Sea despite its intensifying “bullying tactics” and the United States and other allied countries

GAYLE SMITH, who served as USAID administrator under former President BARACK OBAMA, told POLITICO that China is now investing in some places where the U.S. has withdrawn.

Chinese research ships are studying the seas for science and resources, but the data they gather could also be useful in a conflict with Taiwan or the United States.

The U.S. wants South Korea to join efforts to counter China's growth in shipbuilding via potential cooperation in the sector, a senior official from Seoul's trade ministry said on Friday.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the nation’s food supply was a national security issue on par with energy and water supplies.

The foreign affairs chiefs of the Philippines, Japan and the United States have voiced opposition to unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion in maritime areas. Foreign Affairs Secretary Theresa Lazaro,

China's economy is expected to have slowed down in the second quarter from a solid start to the year as trade tensions with the United States added to deflationary pressures, reinforcing expectations that Beijing may need to roll out more stimulus.

The Chinese military vowed to safeguard the country's national sovereignty and security in the South China Sea.