China’s Defense Ministry said on Thursday it was resolutely opposed to any country selling arms to Taiwan. Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun made the comment at a monthly news briefing in Beijing when asked on the possible sale of F-35 fighter jets from the United States to Taiwan. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said earlier on Thursday that Taiwan may need to buy the F-35s, the most advanced stealth jet the United States has.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said it was pointless discussing at a summit of Southeast Asian leaders China’s building of artificial islands in the South China Sea, and no one dared pressure Beijing anyway. Duterte told reporters it was also not worth discussing with counterparts of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) last year’s international arbitration ruling, which invalidated China’s claim to most of the South China Sea. He said the Philippines, which is ASEAN chair this year, could not alone force China to abide by it. The summit will be held this week.

 

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged an end to US-South Korean military maneuvers Wednesday as well as a stop to North Korea’s nuclear program to calm tensions on the peninsula. He said Pyongyang’s continuing nuclear tests were “a clear violation of UN resolutions,” but stressed that persisting with military maneuvers around the peninsula “is not in the spirit of the resolutions either.” Security and stability “are very fragile at the moment and the danger is great of a new conflict breaking out at any time,” Wang said at a joint press conference with German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel.