Philippine foreign minister urges neighbors to stand together more strongly in South China Sea

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The foreign minister of the Philippines is urging regional neighbors to stand together more strongly in upholding the rule of law in the South China Sea, where China is forcefully pursuing territorial claims in conflict with other nations.. Enrique Manalo spoke Monday at a forum on maritime cooperation on the sidelines of a Southeast Asian leaders’ summit in the Australian city of Melbourne. An increasingly assertive China is high on the summit’s agenda. Manalo referred to the Philippines’ victory over China in a 2016 arbitration ruling in The Hague that invalidated Beijing’s vast territorial claims in the South China Sea. China does not accept the ruling.