WASHINGTON: The White House warned China it will “defend” US and international “interests” in the South China Sea and that trade must be a “two-way street.”Signaling Donald Trump’s tough stance against Beijing on Monday, spokesman Sean Spicer said “the US is going to make sure we protect our interests” in the South China Sea. Under president Barack Obama’s administration that preceded Trump’s, Washington insisted it was neutral on the legal question of sovereignty over the islets, reefs and shoals. Tillerson’s remarks raised the prospect of a confrontation between the world’s two greatest powers, and Spicer did nothing from the White House podium to walk them back. Trump “understands the market that China has and our desire to further penetrate that market,” Spicer argued. The move upended decades of diplomatic precedent in which the US president avoided direct public communication with the island’s leader.

Source: Manila Times January 24, 2017 04:00 UTC