Overview
- Admiral Samuel Paparo told a regional security conference in Kuala Lumpur on Monday that the United States will not allow any nation to dominate the Indo‑Pacific and that it is deterring coercion through strength rather than confrontation.
- Paparo accused some states of using “false claims of legitimacy” to intimidate neighbors and contrasted the rule of law with what he called the rule by law as a tool of power.
- The Philippines has repeatedly accused Chinese vessels of dangerous maneuvers, firing water cannon and blocking resupply missions around a disputed shoal, and Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said Manila will continue to resist and push back.
- U.S. officials say Washington is not taking sides on sovereignty claims but will back freedom of navigation, international law and the rights of coastal states to operate in their waters.
- ASEAN Secretary‑General Kao Kim Hourn said talks with China on a South China Sea code of conduct have picked up pace and could be finalized this year, a diplomatic track that could lower the risk of future clashes and shape regional rules for behavior at sea.