Australia’s defense minister and his Philippine counterpart are meeting in Manila on Friday for talks spotlighting their concern over Beijing’s actions in the South China Sea, where Filipino forces were on alert after China deployed a larger number of coast guard forces closer to Manila’s military ship outpost in a

The Philippine military on Tuesday blamed China for the collision of two Chinese navy and coast guard ships while trying to drive the Philippine coast guard and fishermen from a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.

The latest flare-up in the long-seething territorial disputes around the Second Thomas Shoal came up in closed-door talks between Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and his visiting Australian counterpart,