Austin blasts China’s WPS actions as ‘irresponsible’

Defense chiefs from the US, Australia, Japan and the Philippines vowed to deepen cooperation and increase the tempo of joint military exercises amid concerns over China’s aggressive actions in the South China Sea.

“The kind of behavior we’ve seen where Filipino crews are put in danger, sailors have been injured and property damaged—that’s irresponsible behavior, and that disregards international law,” Austin said. According to the DFA chief, the Philippines is “not bystander situation” as it needs “to act to protect our interests and we need to act as cohesively as possible – by rejecting counternarratives that seek to distract us from our objectives.”

The Philippines has been asserting its rights over the West Philippine Sea, which is affirmed by the 2016 Arbitral Ruling and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea .

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