South China Sea

Cheng Li-wun will take over the leadership of Kuomintang party on November 1.

Taiwan’s main opposition party has chosen a new reformist leader who is critical of high defence spending but envisions peace with neighbouring China, whose sovereignty claims over the island have long roiled ties.

Members of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party, which traditionally has had warm ties with Beijing, voted to elect former lawmaker Cheng Li-wun as chairperson on Saturday.

Cheng, 55, who defeated former Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin and four others, will take over the party leadership on November 1.

The election of Cheng, who warns against letting Taiwan “become the sacrifice of geopolitics”, has deep implications for domestic politics at a time of heightened military and political tensions with China.

While the KMT does not control the presidency, the party and its ally – the small Taiwan People’s Party – together hold enough seats to form a majority bloc in the legislature, creating a headache for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) trying to get the budget and its legislation passed.

Speaking at party headquarters in Taipei, Cheng said the KMT under her leadership would be a “creator of regional peace”.

“The KMT will make our home the strongest shelter for everyone against life’s storms. Because we will safeguard peace across the Taiwan Strait,” she said. “We must not let Taiwan become a troublemaker.”

Accusations of Chinese interference

Cheng, who started out in politics in the DPP, said during the campaign that she did not support increasing the defence budget, a key policy of President William Lai Ching-te’s administration that also has strong backing from the United States.

Cheng beat the establishment candidate Hau, 73, with more than 50 percent of the vote, though turnout was less than 40 percent of the party members.

But accusations of Chinese interference in the election from a key supporter of Hau’s, the KMT’s vice presidential candidate last year, Jaw Shau-kong, overshadowed the campaign. Jaw said social media accounts had spread disinformation about Hau.

The head of Taiwan’s National Security Bureau, Tsai Ming-yen, said it found more than 1,000 videos discussing the election on TikTok, in addition to 23 YouTube accounts posting related content, with over half of the YouTube accounts based outside of Taiwan. He did not say which candidates these videos supported or directly answer whether they were based in China.

DPP spokesperson Wu Cheng claimed that Chinese interference was obvious and the KMT should carefully guard against it, saying his party hoped that the new chair would prioritise Taiwan’s safety over party interests.

Cheng rejected the allegations of China influencing her party as “very cheap labels”.

Beijing, for its part, said the election was a KMT matter and that some online comments from mainland China internet users did not represent an official stance.

China’s plan to build a nature reserve in the Scarborough Shoal brings strong responses from the Philippines and US.

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has expressed support for Manila’s opposition to Beijing’s plan to designate the contested Scarborough Shoal as a “nature reserve”, characterising the move as part of a broader Chinese strategy of coercion in the South China Sea.

“The US stands with our Philippine ally in rejecting China’s destabilising plans to establish a ‘national nature reserve’ at Scarborough Reef,” Rubio wrote on the X social media platform on Friday.

“This is yet another coercive attempt to advance China’s interests at the expense of its neighbours and regional stability,” Rubio said.

“… Claiming Scarborough Reef as a nature preserve is another example of Beijing using pressure tactics to push expansive maritime and territorial claims, disregarding the rights of neighbouring countries,” he added in a statement.

On Wednesday, China’s State Council revealed its intention to establish a nature reserve spanning 3,500 hectares (8,650 acres) on the disputed islet, describing the initiative as an “important guarantee for maintaining … diversity, stability and sustainability”.

While Scarborough Shoal lies 240km (150 miles) west of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon and is included in the country’s exclusive economic zone, it has been under Beijing’s control since 2012.

China’s nature reserve plans drew a string of strong responses from the Philippines, where the Department of Foreign Affairs promised on Thursday to lodge a “formal diplomatic protest against this illegitimate and unlawful action”.

According to the Philippine Star news outlet, Philippine National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said China’s planned “Huangyan Island National Nature Reserve” is “patently illegal”.

Ano cited violations of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the 2016 arbitral ruling in favour of Manila regarding China’s claims in the sea, and the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

“This move by the People’s Republic of China is less about protecting the environment and more about justifying its control over a maritime feature that is part of the territory of the Philippines and its waters lie within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines,” Ano was quoted in the newspaper.

“It is a clear pretext towards eventual occupation,” he said.

Leading Filipino business newspaper BusinessWorld included excerpts from analysts who said Beijing is likely testing Manila’s resolve in asserting its claim over the region.

“China will likely want to see what the response will be from the Philippines,” said Julio S. Amador III, chief executive officer at Manila-based geopolitical risk firm Amador Research Services.

“If it sees that there is no effective pushback, then there is a strong possibility that it will try to do the same over other features,” Amador said.

Last month, the Philippines, Australia and Canada held joint naval drills east of Scarborough Shoal to simulate aerial attacks and how to counter such threats.

China, for its part, has insisted it will defend the area.

China asserts sovereignty over nearly the entire South China Sea – a strategic maritime corridor through which more than $3 trillion in trade passes each year – despite competing territorial claims from the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

The state-of-the-art Fujian is in the final stages of testing before it officially begins active service in China’s navy.

China’s newest aircraft carrier transited through the Taiwan Strait as part of a research and training exercise before its entry into service, according to the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).

PLAN spokesperson Senior Captain Leng Guowei said on Friday that the Fujian was bound for the South China Sea, where it will undergo testing.

“The cross-regional tests and training are a routine mission of the carrier’s construction process and do not target any specific objects,” Leng said, according to Chinese state media.

The 80,000-tonne Fujian has not been officially commissioned for service, but it will soon join the Liaoning and Shandong vessels as China’s third and most advanced aircraft carrier.

Fu Qianshao, a Chinese military affairs expert, told China’s State-run news outlet Global Times that the Fujian’s research trip to the South China Sea is a sign the aircraft carrier is nearly complete. It earlier underwent tests in the East China Sea and Yellow Sea.

The Fujian’s route was not unexpected, as Chinese state media shared photos and videos of the aircraft carrier leaving Shanghai’s shipyard on Wednesday.

A step forward for China’s blue water navy.

🇨🇳China’s third aircraft carrier, the Fujian passes through Taiwan Straits to hold tests, training in #SouthChinaSea.

By the way, the Taiwan Strait is not ‘international waters’.

The Fujian is China’s first fully domestically… pic.twitter.com/3ffANYEbMH

— Shen Shiwei 沈诗伟 (@shen_shiwei) September 12, 2025

Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force on Thursday spotted the Fujian sailing near the disputed but uninhabited Senkaku Islands, in the direction of the Taiwan Strait, accompanied by two PLAN destroyers.

The Senkaku Islands are known as the Diaoyu Islands in China and the Diaoyutai Islands in Taiwan.

The Fujian is just the second aircraft carrier in the world, after the USS Gerald Ford, to host an electromagnetic catapult system that makes it easier for aircraft to take off and land.

Developing such a launch system is a sign that the technology gap between China and the US is closing, according to maritime expert and former United States Air Force Colonel Ray Powell, but there are still some limitations.

The Fujian is 20 percent smaller than US super aircraft carriers and conventionally powered rather than nuclear-powered, Powell said.

The real challenge for China, Powell told Al Jazeera, will be crewing its aircraft carriers as the PLAN will need to divide veteran crew members between the three carriers: Fujian, Liaoning and Shandong.

“China is closing the hardware gap, but developing the operational expertise for effective blue-water carrier ops is what the US has spent nearly a century perfecting,” he said.

While no date has been announced yet for the Fujian’s official commission into active service, the US Naval Institute (USNI) said it is expected to “coincide with a date that holds historical significance to China”.

Possible dates include September 18, the anniversary of Japan’s 1931 invasion of Manchuria, or China’s October 1 national holiday, the USNI said.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – When four Chinese vessels joined with Russian ships earlier this month in joint naval drills in the Sea of Japan, few eyebrows were raised.

Moscow and Beijing have been reinforcing their military partnership in recent years as they seek to counterbalance what they see as the United States-led global order.

But what did raise eyebrows among defence analysts and regional governments had occurred several weeks earlier when China sent its aircraft carriers into the Pacific together for the first time.

Maritime expert and former United States Air Force Colonel Ray Powell described the “simultaneous deployment” of China’s two aircraft carriers east of the Philippines as a “historic” moment as the country races to realise Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambition of having a world-class navy by 2035.

“No nation except the US has operated dual carrier groups at such distances since [World War II],” said Powell, director of SeaLight, a maritime transparency project of the Gordian Knot Center at Stanford University.

“While it will take years for China’s still-nascent carrier capabilities to approach that of America’s, this wasn’t just a training exercise – it was China demonstrating it can now contest and even deny US access to crucial sea lanes,” Powell told Al Jazeera.

China’s state-run news agency Xinhua described the exercise by the aircraft carriers as a “far-sea combat-oriented training”, and the state-affiliated Global Times reported that China was soon poised to enter the “three-aircraft-carrier era”, when its Fujian carrier enters service later this year.

East Asia is a ‘home game’ for China

China currently has two operational aircraft carriers – the Liaoning and Shandong – and the Fujian is undergoing sea trials.

While the Chinese navy operates the world’s largest naval fleet with more than 370 ships compared with the US’s 251 active ships in commission, Beijing still lacks the global logistics network and advanced nuclear submarine technology required of a truly mature blue water force, Powell said.

Beijing’s three aircraft carriers run on diesel compared with Washington’s 11 carriers, all of which are nuclear powered.

But “gaps” in naval capabilities are closing between the US and China.

“[China] fully intends to close these gaps and is applying tremendous resources toward that end, and with its rapidly improving technical prowess and vastly superior shipbuilding capacity, it has demonstrated its potential to get there,” Powell said.

Beijing’s more immediate focus is not directed towards competing with the US globally, Powell added.

Rather, China is focused on changing the balance of power and convincing its allies and adversaries to accept China’s dominance within its chosen sphere of influence in East Asia.

The second option, if ever necessary, is to defeat them.

“East Asia is a ‘home game’ for China – a place where it can augment its small carrier force through its far larger land-based air and rocket forces – including so-called [aircraft] ‘carrier killer’ missile systems that can strike targets up to 4,000km [2,485 miles] away,” Powell said.

Regionally, while the Philippines engages in increasingly frequent high seas confrontations with the Chinese coastguard, it is Japan that is watching China’s naval build-up with concern, experts said.

Japan’s Defence Minister Gen Nakatani said in June – after confirming that China’s two carriers had operated simultaneously in the Pacific for the first time – that Beijing apparently aims “to advance its operational capability of the distant sea and airspace”.

With the US increasingly perceived as becoming more inward-looking under President Donald Trump, Japan is considered a growing force in the contested maritime terrain in the Asia Pacific region amid what Tokyo has called “the most severe and complex security environment since the end of World War II”.

‘Preparation for a more uncertain future’

Even before Trump’s second stint as US president, Japan had embarked on the most pivotal shift in post-World War II military spending.

Tokyo’s defence spending and related costs are expected to total 9.9 trillion yen (about $67bn) for fiscal year 2025, equivalent to 1.8 percent of Japan’s gross domestic product (GDP), and the government has committed to raising spending on defence to 2 percent of GDP by 2027, according to Japanese media reports.

“[Japan’s] naval capacity is growing steadily, not just in support of the US alliance but in quiet preparation for a more uncertain future – perhaps even one in which America withdraws from the Pacific,” said Mike Burke, lecturer at Tokyo-based Meiji University.

Collin Koh, senior fellow at the Singapore-based Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS), also said that China’s growing military might, assertiveness and proclivity to resort to coercive behaviour have “aggravated Japan’s threat perception”.

But Japan alone cannot guarantee security in such a regional hotspot as the South China Sea, said Burke.

Instead, Tokyo’s goal is to check Beijing’s growing power through a Japanese presence and building partnerships with other regional players.

This year alone so far, Japan has deployed two naval fleets to “realise” what Japanese officials describe as a free and open Asia Pacific region. The first fleet was deployed from January 4 to May 10 and docked in 12 countries, including Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman.

The second was deployed on April 21 and is ongoing until November, with port calls in some 23 countries, as well as roles in multilateral military exercises.

Japan aims to build trust with other allies, Burke said, noting that Japan has worked on its soft power by funding radar systems, investing in civil infrastructure from ports to rail networks in Southeast Asia, and supporting maritime domain awareness initiatives in the region.

Noriyuki Shikata, Japan’s ambassador to Malaysia, described Tokyo’s approach as a strength at home and reinforcing collaboration abroad with “like-minded countries and others with whom Japan cooperates”, in order to uphold and realise a free and open international order.

“Japan has been strengthening its defence capabilities to the point at which Japan can take the primary responsibility for dealing with invasions against Japan, and disrupt and defeat such threats while obtaining the support of its [US] ally and other security partners,” the ambassador told Al Jazeera.

Zachary Abuza, professor of Southeast Asia studies and security at Washington, DC-based National War College, said the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) is a world-class navy that is focused on building the highest level of capabilities.

Abuza also described Japan’s submarine force as “exceptional”, while it is also building up its capabilities, including more high-end antiship missiles.

“All of these developments should give the Chinese some pause,” Abuza told Al Jazeera in a recent interview.

“That said, they [the Japanese] are nervous about Trump’s commitment to treaty obligations, and you can see the Japan Self-Defence Force is trying to strengthen its strategic autonomy,” he said.

‘Chinese assertiveness could result in an accident’

Geng Shuang, charge d’affaires of China’s permanent mission to the United Nations, said earlier this year that China was committed to working with the “countries concerned” to address conflicting claims in the South China Sea through peaceful dialogue.

He also lambasted the threat posed by the US navy’s freedom of navigation operations in the contested sea.

“The United States, under the banner of freedom of navigation, has frequently sent its military vessels to the South China Sea to flex its muscles and openly stir up confrontation between regional countries,” Geng was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea, a vast area spanning approximately 3.6 million square kilometres (1.38 million square miles) that is rich in hydrocarbons and one of the world’s major shipping routes.

Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei are claimants to various parts of the sea.

Ralph Cossa, chairman of the Honolulu-based Pacific Forum research institute, said “the challenge to freedom of navigation is a global one”.

But the challenges posed are particularly worrying when it comes to the rival superpowers China and the US.

“I don’t think anyone wants a direct conflict or is looking to start a fight,” Cossa said.

“But I worry that Chinese assertiveness could result in an accident that it would prove difficult for either side to walk away or back down from,” Cossa said.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies’ Asia Pacific Roundtable 2025 summit in Kuala Lumpur earlier this year, Do Thanh Hai, deputy director-general at Vietnam’s East Sea Institute Diplomatic Academy, said no one will emerge unscathed from an incident in the disputed region.

“Any disruption in the South China Sea will affect all,” he told Al Jazeera.

Beijing warns Manila to stop ‘playing with fire’ after Marcos signals potential Taiwan conflict involvement.

China has sharply criticised Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr after he suggested his country would be drawn into a potential conflict between China and the United States over Taiwan.

During a state visit to India this week, Marcos said the Philippines’ geographic proximity and the large Filipino community in Taiwan meant the country would be forced to get involved in the event of war.

“If there is an all-out war, then we will be drawn into it,” Marcos told Indian broadcaster Firstpost. “There are many, many Filipino nationals in Taiwan and that would be immediately a humanitarian problem.”

In response, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a strongly worded statement on Friday, warning Manila not to “play with fire” and urging it to uphold the one China principle.

“Geographical proximity and large overseas populations are not excuses for interfering in others’ internal affairs,” the statement read.

Tensions between China and the Philippines have intensified in recent years over territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Both sides have accused each other of provocations, with altercations at sea involving ramming incidents, water cannon blasts, and clashes involving weapons such as spears and knives.

Beijing continues to assert that Taiwan is part of its territory and a breakaway province, a position Taipei rejects.

China also dismissed Marcos’s justification as undermining both international law and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations charter, saying his comments risk destabilising regional peace and harming the interests of the Philippine people.

Marcos’s trip to India also saw the signing of new security agreements aimed at strengthening defence ties between New Delhi and Manila, including cooperation between both countries’ armies, air forces and navies. Indian warships recently began joint patrols with the Philippine Navy in the contested South China Sea in a move likely to anger China.

In another sign of rising tensions, Philippine officials earlier this week condemned the launch of a Chinese rocket, which they said dropped suspected debris near a western province, alarming residents and threatening local ships and aircraft. No damage or injuries were reported.

The escalating maritime standoff has also increasingly drawn in the United States, which has a mutual defence pact with the Philippines. Washington has reaffirmed its commitment to defend Filipino forces, including coastguard personnel, aircraft and public vessels, should they come under attack anywhere in the South China Sea.

The exercise coincided with President Ferdinand Marcos’s departure for a five-day trip to India, where he said he would look to deepen maritime ties.

India and the Philippines have staged their first joint sail and naval exercises in the disputed South China Sea.

The two-day joint military deployment that kicked off on Sunday is likely to anger China, which claims nearly the entire key waterway and has separate territorial disputes with the two Asian countries.

Philippine Chief of Staff Romeo Brawner Jr said on Monday that the joint sail took place inside his country’s exclusive economic zone.

“We did not experience any untoward incidents, but there are still those shadowing us – as we had already expected,” Brawner told reporters, without naming China.

In past joint patrols with other foreign navies, Chinese navy and coastguard ships have kept watch from a distance, according to the Philippine military.

Indian navy ships that took part included guided missile destroyer INS Delhi, tanker INS Shakti and corvette INS Kiltan. The Philippines deployed two frigates, BRP Miguel Malvar and BRP Jose Rizal.

The exercise coincided with President Ferdinand Marcos’s departure for a five-day trip to India, where he said he would look to deepen maritime ties and seek cooperation on sectors including defence, pharmaceuticals and agriculture.

Brawner, meanwhile, expressed hope that Filipino forces could engage India’s military in more joint manoeuvres in the future.

The drill “sends a powerful signal of solidarity, strength in partnership and the energy of cooperation between two vibrant democracies in the Indo-Pacific”, he said.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that territorial and maritime disputes should be resolved between the countries directly involved, and no third party should intervene.

In response to a question last week about the Philippines’ plans to build up military cooperation, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense called the country a “troublemaker” that has aligned itself with foreign forces to stir up trouble, in what China deems its own territorial waters.

“China never wavers in its resolve and will safeguard national territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and take resolute countermeasures against any provocations by the Philippine side,” spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang had told reporters.

The South China Sea is a strategic shipping route where $3 trillion of annual shipborne commerce takes place.

A 2016 ruling of an international arbitral tribunal found China’s sweeping claims have no basis under international law, a decision Beijing rejects.

Taipei says an estimated 15 Chinese aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Friday.

Taiwan‘s defence ministry says that it has detected more than 70 Chinese military aircraft around the island in the last 24 hours, just days after a British naval vessel sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait.

The latest sightings reported on Friday come as Beijing continues to ramp up the deployment of fighter jets and naval vessels around Taiwan in recent months to press its claim of sovereignty of the island, which Taipei rejects.

Along with 50 aircraft, six Chinese naval vessels were detected in the 24 hours to 6am on Friday (22:00 GMT on Thursday), the defence ministry said.

An additional 24 Chinese aircraft, including fighters and drones, were spotted since 08:50am (00:50 GMT) on Friday, the ministry said in a separate statement.

Among the second batch of aircraft, 15 crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait in conducting air-sea joint training with Chinese naval vessels, the ministry said, adding it “monitored the situation and responded accordingly”.

China insists that democratic, self-ruled Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan has allied itself with the United States, angering Beijing.

The latest incursions came after the British Royal Navy patrol vessel HMS Spey sailed through the Taiwan Strait on June 18, Taiwan’s foreign ministry said on Thursday.

China strongly condemned Britain’s latest move as a deliberate attempt to “cause trouble”.

Britain’s Royal Navy said the patrol vessel conducted a routine navigation through the narrow waterway that was part of a long-planned deployment and took place in full compliance with international law.

The Eastern Theatre Command of China’s People’s Liberation Army said the Wednesday sailing of the ship was “public hyping” and that its forces followed and monitored the Spey.

The UK, United States and other countries view the 180km (112-mile) Taiwan Strait as international waters that should be open to all vessels.

In February, a Canadian warship also passed through the Strait, days after a US destroyer and a US ocean survey ship made the passage.

The last time a British Navy ship transited the Taiwan Strait was in 2021, when the HMS Richmond, a frigate deployed with Britain’s aircraft carrier strike group, sailed through from Japan to Vietnam.

In April, Taiwan detected 76 Chinese aircraft and 15 naval vessels around the island, when Beijing conducted live-fire exercises that included simulated strikes aimed at the island’s key ports and energy sites.

The highest number of Chinese aircraft recorded was 153 on October 15, 2024, after China staged large-scale military drills in response to a speech by Taiwan’s President William Lai Ching-te on National Day, days earlier.

The warning from China’s embassy in the Philippines follows criticism from a top EU official about Beijing’s conduct.

China has told the European Union to stop “provoking trouble” in the South China Sea after EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas expressed concerns about Beijing’s coercive activities in the strategically important waterway.

“We urge the EU to genuinely respect China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea and to stop provoking trouble,” a spokesperson for China’s embassy in Manila said in a statement on Thursday.

China said the EU had no right to interfere in regional issues, and advised the Philippines that it should stop “fantasising about relying on external forces” to resolve disputes regarding the sovereignty of the South China Sea.

The warning from China’s embassy follows a meeting between Kallas and the Philippines’ foreign minister, Enrique Manalo, in Manila earlier this week, where they announced a new security and defence dialogue between the EU and the Philippines to counter threats like foreign interference, cyberattacks and misinformation campaigns.

The two sides also expressed concerns about China’s “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive measures” against Philippine vessels and aircraft carrying out lawful maritime operations in the South China Sea.

When asked by reporters about the EU’s red lines towards China in the South China Sea, Kallas said that the EU is committed to upholding peace and a rules-based order.

“We reject any unilateral changes to the status quo, including use of coercion,” Kallas said.

Half a dozen countries, including the Philippines, lay claim to different parts of the South China Sea, but Beijing claims sovereignty over almost all of it.

The conflicting claims extend into the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, leading to frequent altercations between China and its neighbours.

PM Albanese says government already increasing spending and decisions will be based on defence capability needs.

United States Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth has called on Australia to increase its military spending to 3.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) “as soon as possible”.

Responding on Monday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government will decide on Australia’s defence capability needs before announcing spending.

“What you should do in defence is decide what you need, your capability, and then provide for it,” Albanese told reporters.

“That’s what my government is doing. Investing to our capability and investing in our relationships.”

Albanese added that his government is already increasing defence spending by about 10 billion Australian dollars ($6.5bn).

“We’re continuing to lift up,” he said, citing his government’s goal to increase spending to 2.3 percent of GDP by 2033.

However, the government is facing other demands on its budget.

Albanese was speaking from a farm in the state of South Australia, which is experiencing a significant drought.

Meanwhile, Australia’s treasurer said the country is facing a bill of billions due to recent floods in New South Wales and Cyclone Alfred.

Public broadcaster ABC reported that increasing military spending to 3.5 percent of GDP would cost 100 billion Australian dollars ($65bn) annually, 40 billion Australian dollars ($25bn) more than it spends currently.

Matt Grudnoff, a senior economist with The Australia Institute, said “Australia already spends more than it should” on defence.

“Were Australia to increase its defence spending to 2.3% of GDP, we would be the ninth biggest spender on defence and the military,” Grudnoff said.

“Australia would be devoting more of its economy to defence than France and Taiwan, and on a par with the United Kingdom,” he added.

Worldwide military spending increased by 9.4 percent in 2024, the sharpest rise since the end of the Cold War, in part driven by increased spending by European countries, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The Australian government has already committed to spending hundreds of billions of dollars on US-manufactured nuclear submarines under its AUKUS agreement with the US and the UK in the coming decades.

It estimates that the programme could cost up to 368 billion Australian dollars ($238bn).

Hegseth and Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles discussed security issues, including accelerating US defence capabilities in Australia and advancing industrial base cooperation during a meeting on Friday, a Pentagon statement said on Sunday.

Australia’s role in manufacturing weapons components has come under increasing scrutiny amid Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, with protests outside Australian weapons factories and at Australian ports, as well as legal challenges.

Albanese says Australia’s position on Taiwan has not changed

Hegseth’s call for Australia to increase its military spending comes after the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Shangri-La Dialogue on Saturday that “the threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent”.

“There’s no reason to sugar-coat it,” the Pentagon chief added. The US continues to warn of the threat that China poses to Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of Chinese territory.

China’s Defence Minister Dong Jun skipped the conference, which is considered to be the region’s top security event.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded by saying: “The US should not entertain illusions about using the question over Taiwan as a bargaining chip to contain China, nor should it play with fire.”

Asked about Hegseth’s remarks, Albanese said Australia will “determine our defence policy”.

“Our position with regard to Taiwan is very clear, [and] has been for a long period of time, which is a bipartisan position to support the status quo,” he said.

Beijing says the US is touting Cold War mentality after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth calls China a threat to the region.

China has warned the United States against “playing with fire” over Taiwan in response to US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth calling the Asian power a “threat to the region” at a high-profile summit in Singapore.

Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue on Saturday, Hegseth said China was “credibly preparing” for military action to shift Asia’s power balance, accusing Beijing of rehearsing a potential invasion of Taiwan.

China considers Taiwan, a separately governed island, to be a part of its territory and has vowed reunification by force if necessary. Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.

Hegseth’s remarks provoked a swift rebuke from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which stressed that Taiwan remains a domestic matter, warning foreign powers against using the issue as leverage. It described US actions in Asia Pacific as turning the region into a “powder keg”.

“The US should not entertain illusions about using the Taiwan question as a bargaining chip to contain China, nor should it play with fire,” it said.

Hegseth had called on allies in the Asia Pacific region, including key security ally Australia, to spend more on defence after warning of the “real and potentially imminent” threat from China.

Calling the US a “true destabilising” force in the Asia Pacific, Beijing accused Washington of deploying offensive weapons in the South China Sea and aggravating regional tensions.

Beijing accused Hegseth of “vilifying China with defamatory allegations” and promoting a “Cold War mentality”.

“Hegseth deliberately ignored the call for peace and development by countries in the region, and instead touted the Cold War mentality for bloc confrontation, vilified China with defamatory allegations, and falsely called China a threat,” the ministry said, adding that it had lodged a formal protest with the US over what it described as “inflammatory rhetoric”.

China and the Philippines contest sovereignty over some islands and atolls in the South China Sea, with growing maritime run-ins between their coastguards as both vie to patrol the waters.

Beijing also rejected US claims about threats to maritime navigation, insisting it has consistently promoted dialogue to resolve regional disputes and safeguarded its territorial rights within the bounds of international law.

“The US is the biggest factor undermining peace and stability in the South China Sea,” the statement read.

China’s Defence Minister Dong Jun skipped the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s premier security forum, with Beijing sending a delegation of lower-ranking representatives instead.

It was the first time since 2019 that China has not dispatched its defence minister to the high-level dialogue on regional defence, except when the event was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tensions are already high between China and the US – the world’s two biggest economic powers – over Trump’s ongoing trade war and tariff threats.

China’s drills near the Scarborough Shoal came as South Korea announced finding new Chinese buoys in the Yellow Sea.

China’s navy has conducted “combat readiness patrols” near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, while South Korean officials separately announced the discovery of more Chinese buoys in contested waters in the Yellow Sea.

The Southern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted the drills in the “territorial waters and airspace of China’s Huangyan Island and surrounding areas”, state-run news outlet Xinhua reported on Saturday, using China’s name for the Scarborough Shoal.

The report said the PLA had been conducting drills in the area throughout May to “further strengthen the control of relevant sea and air areas, resolutely defend national sovereignty and security, and resolutely maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea”.

The Scarborough Shoal is a rocky islet claimed by The Philippines, located 220km (119 miles) west of Luzon, the nearest landmass. Beijing blockaded and seized the territory, a traditional fishing ground, from Manila in 2012.

The Chinese navy regularly carries out provocative military drills in the area as part of its claims of sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea, despite a 2016 international tribunal ruling that Beijing’s claims had no legal basis under international law.

In late April, Manila accused Beijing of carrying out “dangerous manoeuvres and obstruction” after a Chinese naval ship damaged a Philippine coastguard ship with a water cannon near the shoal.

Tension in the Yellow Sea

Also on Saturday, South Korean officials announced they had recorded three new Chinese buoys installed near overlapping waters with South Korea, bringing the total number of such devices installed by China in the Yellow Sea to 13.

“[We] are closely monitoring activities within the provisional maritime zone [PMZ], including China’s unauthorised installation of structures, and will closely [cooperate] with relevant agencies to protect our maritime sovereignty,” a Ministry of Defence official said, according to South Korea’s official Yonhap news agency.

Two of the Chinese buoys – first detected in May 2023, but only announced this week – have been installed near the zone, according to Yonhap.

The third buoy is located inside the maritime zone, a contested area where the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) claims of South Korea and China overlap, Yonhap added.

China asserts its maritime boundary is based on a 1962 agreement signed with North Korea which cuts into waters South Korea considers part of its economic zone.

The Yellow Sea PMZ allows joint management of marine resources and prohibits activities beyond navigation and fishing.

However, tensions have grown between Beijing and Seoul as China has repeatedly erected installations in the waters, including 10 three-metre-wide and six-metre-tall observation buoys since 2018 and a fixed steel structure in 2022.

Last week, China declared three no-sail zones within the zone, in a move “believed to be for military training purposes”, according to the Korea Joongang Daily newspaper.

The no-sail declarations caused concern in Seoul over a potential uptick in Chinese military activity in the area.

Philippine officials say a mission visited Sandy Cay reef in the disputed South China Sea and unfurled the national flag.

The Philippines has denied a Chinese Coast Guard report that China had “dealt with” a situation involving six Filipino personnel, whom Beijing accused of illegally landing on a tiny reef in the disputed South China Sea.

Chinese Coast Guard spokesperson Liu Dejun said in a statement on Sunday evening that six personnel from the Philippines had earlier that day “illegally boarded” the Tiexian Reef, also known as Sandy Cay, despite “warnings and dissuasion” from the Chinese side.

Liu said that Chinese Coast Guard personnel then “boarded the reef and investigated and dealt with it in accordance with the law”. The statement did not provide further details on the encounter or the identities of the six people from the Philippines.

“We urge the Philippines to immediately stop its infringement,” Liu said, adding that the actions “violated China’s territorial sovereignty”.

Officials in Manila denied on Monday that China had taken over Sandy Cay or that a Philippine mission on Sunday to Sandy Cay – a reef over which sand has accumulated – was interfered with by Chinese maritime forces in the disputed area.

Sandy Cay, part of the Spratly Islands, lies near Thitu Island, also called Pag-asa and the site of a Philippine military facility.

“Philippine government officials have categorically denied that China has seized Sandy Cay or has now permanently taken over Sandy Cay in the South China Sea, describing the statement that was released through Chinese state media over the weekend as an ‘outright lie’, as part of Beijing’s disinformation tactics,” Al Jazeera’s Barnaby Lo said, reporting from Manila in the Philippines.

“To prove this point they showed media a recent, as recent as Sunday morning actually, a mission to Sandy Cay by the Philippine Coastguard and the Philippine Navy. Showing photos and videos of the Philippine flag being unfurled on two of the three sand bars that make up Sandy Cay in the South China Sea,” Lo said.

Lo said Philippine officials confirmed that Chinese vessels were present near the disputed reef during the mission on Sunday, but denied that the Philippine mission was “dealt with” as claimed by China.

Chinese state media said on Saturday that the country’s coastguard had “implemented maritime control” over the Tiexian Reef during the middle of April. China’s state broadcaster CCTV said in the report that the Chinese coastguard landed on Sandy Cay to “exercise sovereignty and jurisdiction” over the reef, carry out an “inspection” and “collect video evidence regarding the illegal activities of the Philippine side”.

The broadcaster published a photograph of five people, clad in black, standing on the uninhabited reef as a dark inflatable boat bobbed in the nearby water. Another shot showed four coastguard officials posing with a national flag on the reef’s white surface, in what CCTV described as a “vow of sovereignty”.

According to reports, there is no sign that China has permanently occupied the reef.

Also on Monday, the Philippine and US militaries launched three weeks of annual joint exercises, called “Balikatan” or “shoulder to shoulder”, which will include an integrated air and missile defence simulation for the first time.

Beijing has said the manoeuvres “undermine regional strategic stability” and accused Manila of “collusion with countries outside the region”.

Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu, reporting from Beijing, said the unfurling of a Chinese flag by the coastguard on Sandy Cay was significant in terms of stating claim to the reef, and the timing in advance of the annual US-Philippine military exercises.

“So it seems that with the staking of this Chinese flag on this reef, it is sending a message not only to Manila but also to Washington,” Yu said.