President Donald Trump, with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and his wife Kathryn, speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One after declaring Feb. 9 "Gulf of America Day." Ben Curtis/AP hide caption
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U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, center, walks out after a bilateral meeting with China's Defense Minister Dong Jun on the sidelines of the 21st Shangri-La Dialogue summit at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore on Friday. Vincent Thian/AP hide caption
An aerial view taken on March 9, 2023, shows Thitu Island in the South China Sea. Jam Sta Rosa/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
On a remote island, a test of wills between the Philippines and China
A U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber flies during the Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition 2023 at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, South Korea, on Oct. 17, 2023. AP hide caption
Protesters wave flags and hold placards in front of the Chinese Consulate in Makati, Metro Manila on July 12, 2023, during a demonstration held to mark the seventh anniversary of an international arbitral ruling that voided China's historical claims to the South China Sea, including the nine-dash line. Jam Sta Rosa/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Margot Robbie poses for the media prior to a news conference of the movie Barbie in Seoul, South Korea, Monday. The film is to be released in the country on July 19. Lee Jin-man/AP hide caption
United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin walks past military guards during arrival honors at the Department of National Defense in Camp Aguinaldo military camp on Feb. 2, 2023 in Quezon City, Manila, Philippines. Pool/Getty Images hide caption
The U.S. and the Philippines agree to a larger American military presence
A Chinese J-11 military fighter jet flies above the Taiwan Strait near Pingtan, the closest land of mainland China to the island of Taiwan, in southeastern China's Fujian Province on Aug. 5, 2022. Ng Han Guan/AP hide caption
China's Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe speaks at a plenary session during the 19th International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-la Dialogue, Asia's annual defense and security forum, in Singapore, Sunday, June 12, 2022. Danial Hakim/AP hide caption
The Seawolf-class fast-attack submarine USS Connecticut smacked an undersea mountain, the Navy says. The vessel is seen here leaving Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton for a trip across the Pacific Ocean in May. Lt. Mack Jamieson/Commander, Submarine Group 9 hide caption
The USS Connecticut, seen near the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in 2016, collided on Oct. 2 with an unspecified underwater object in international waters in the South China Sea. Thiep Van Nguyen II/AP hide caption
A U.S. Navy hovercraft prepares to hit the beach during amphibious-landing exercises as part of an annual joint U.S.-Philippine military exercise on the shores of San Antonio, facing the South China Sea, in Zambales province, Philippines, on April 11, 2019. Ted Aljibe/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Overview of Whitsun Reef in the South China Sea and Chinese vessels moored in the waters surrounding the boomerang-shaped coral reef on March 23. Satellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies hide caption
Facebook says the fake accounts it removed focused mainly on Southeast Asia. But they also included some content about the U.S. election, which did not gain a large following. Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Defense Secretary Mark Esper, pictured last month, spoke with his Chinese counterpart Thursday amid strained relations between the two countries. Michael Reynolds/AP hide caption
The USS Ronald Reagan (foreground) and the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Groups sail together in formation in the South China Sea on July 6. China has accused the U.S. of flexing its military muscles by conducting joint exercises with two U.S. aircraft carrier groups in the strategic waterway. Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jason Tarleton/U.S. Navy via AP hide caption
An April 2018 file photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency shows the Liaoning aircraft carrier accompanied by navy frigates and submarines conducting exercises in the South China Sea. Li Gang/AP hide caption
Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) shakes hands with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte after a guest book signing at the Malacañang presidential palace in Manila on Tuesday. Duterte called Xi's visit to longtime U.S. ally the Philippines a "milestone." Mark R. Cristino/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
The USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), the U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, anchored off the coast in Danang, Vietnam on Monday. Linh Pham/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
A U.S. Aircraft Carrier Anchors Off Vietnam For The First Time Since The War
A Navy fighter jet comes in for a landing on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in the South China Sea. Anthony Kuhn/NPR hide caption
The HMS Queen Elizabeth, one of two brand-new British aircraft carriers, trails a collection of tug boats on the Firth of Forth in Scotland last month. U.K. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson says the massive carriers, which have been billed as some of the biggest ships ever built for the Royal Navy, will sail through the disputed waterways of the South China Sea as a show of strength. Andy Buchanan/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
A Chinese J-10 fighter jet, the same model that intercepted U.S. aircraft earlier this week over the East China Sea, takes off from a runway in mainland China in 2014. Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
An official photograph dated April 15 and posted by the Navy shows the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in an Indonesian strait thousands of miles south of North Korea. MC2 Sean M. Castellano/U.S. Navy hide caption
Secretary of State-designate Rex Tillerson suggested at his confirmation hearing that a Trump administration would be willing to wage a showdown over China's recent island building in the South China Sea. Steve Helber/AP hide caption