The Pentagon’s efforts to improve U.S. force posture in the Pacific have yielded a flurry of major agreements, with allies motivated by China's behavior.
A Philippine official says the country's coast guard has launched a strategy of publicizing aggressive actions by China in the disputed South China Sea.
The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit have been conducting exercises in the South China Sea, the Navy said.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is in the Philippines for talks on deploying larger numbers of U.S. forces and weapons in more Philippine military camps.
China has been increasingly using civilian ships including hundreds of fishing trawlers to back up its vast territorial claims and project military power.
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