Australia will take part in an annual military exercise beginning this week that will send thousands of Philippine and American military personnel into contested waters.
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The navy’s $11 billion reboot is fine on paper - as long as we don’t need to go to war any time in the next decade.
From covering Shane Warne’s tragic death to travelling with Penny Wong to her home town,Chris Barrett saw a bit of everything.
The noontime assault by Chinese ships is the latest flare-up of seething territorial disputes in the South China Sea,a flashpoint that has put the US and China on a collision course.
The first combined operation began on Saturday and comes after months of intensifying friction in the contested waterway.
Under pressure to reveal whether he raised the matter with Xi Jinping,the prime minister said his government had made its views known about the “regrettable incident”.
Relations between China and the US have been tense,with friction between the world’s two largest economies over everything from Taiwan to China’s human rights record.
The two countries have had numerous run-ins in areas of the South China Sea in recent months,especially the disputed Second Thomas Shoal,part of the Spratly Islands.
Defending his country’s upgrading of ties with Beijing,Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta says China is “more respectful of Australia’s position than Australia is of the Chinese position”.
The fatal collision with an oil tanker occurred in waters off Scarborough Shoal,an atoll disputed by Manila and Beijing that has everyone jumping.