Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has warned China not to cross a red line in the South China Sea, where a standoff between the countries continues to escalate.
If any Filipino died as a result of China’s wilful actions, he said on Friday, the Philippines would consider it as close to “an act of war” and respond accordingly.
Mr Marcos was speaking at a security forum in Singapore attended by defence chiefs from around the world, including the US’s Lloyd Austin.
He stressed the region remained a main focus for Washington, and that the US was only secure if Asia was too.
It is. I honestly think we should just bar whole families from politics if they’re related. It might be slightly unjust to those family members but we’ve got enough people that it’s not like we’re going to run out of candidates anytime soon.