Veterans shame Democrat in top 2024 House race for wearing Army uniform during event despite never serving
A group of Michigan veterans are calling on a Democrat running for Congress to apologize for wearing part of a U.S. Army-issued uniform during a Veterans Day event despite having never served in the military. Fox News Digital has obtained a letter signed by 28 veterans and addressed to former Michigan state Sen. Curtis Hertel, the likely Democrat nominee for the state’s competitive 7th Congressional District, accusing him of giving the impression that he served in the military and committing an act of “stolen valor” by wearing the jacket. The letter specifically focused on Hertel’s attendance at a Nov. 11 wreath laying ceremony at the Michigan Veterans Memorial in Lansing, when he wore a now-retired U.S. Army-issued physical fitness jacket while speaking at the event despite not being listed in its programming. CONSERVATIVES LASH OUT AT TRUMP AFTER HE ATTACKS CHIP ROY, CALLS FOR HIM TO FACE PRIMARY CHALLENGE: ‘IDIOTIC’ “We, the undersigned veterans of U.S. military service, write to you today to express our deep concern over your conscious decision to wear an official U.S. Army-issued uniform while speaking at a Veterans Day event last month in Lansing, despite not having served in the Army or any other branch of the U.S. military,” the letter read. “We respectfully request that you publicly apologize to all American veterans, in Michigan and elsewhere, and pledge not to repeat the offense,” it read. “As you must be aware, wearing official military-issue attire, especially at a ceremony honoring those who have served, leaves the clear and unmistakable impression that you personally served in uniform. As a public servant who has frequently professed to support veterans and veterans’ issues, you must also know that this brand of ‘stolen valor’ is frowned upon,” it added. BIDEN SCRAMBLES TO WIN OVER SWING STATE BLACK VOTERS AS SUPPORT FROM THE TRADITIONALLY BLUE BLOC FALTERS The letter stated that Hertel never clarified to those in attendance that he never actually served in the military, and noted that although the jacket is a retired uniform and no longer in use by the Army, it “is intrinsically linked to the Global War on Terror era of military service,” and is a period Hertel was eligible to serve, based on his age, but did not. “Additionally, because you were not issued the jacket by the Army, you must have obtained it from someone who was, which means you were aware of its status as an official uniform when you acquired it,” it added. According to U.S. Army regulations, the physical fitness uniform is not considered appropriate for “social or official functions off the installation, such as memorial services, funerals, weddings, inaugurals, patriotic ceremonies, and similar functions.” Additionally, retirees are authorized to wear the physical fitness uniform, but not as part of such a ceremony or gathering. NIKKI HALEY TAKES AIM AT GOP RIVAL FOR CAMPAIGNING WITH ‘ANTI-ISRAEL’ MEMBER OF CONGRESS When reached for comment, Hertel told Fox News Digital the jacket was a gift from his brother-in-law, who serves as a U.S. Army officer. “My brother-in-law, an army major who is about to retire, gave me that jacket as a Christmas present. I wore it on Veterans Day to honor him and the other members of my family who served,” he said. Vietnam veteran Jack Devine, an organizer on veterans’ issues in the Lansing area and across Michigan who was also a speaker at the Veterans Day event attended by Hertel, defended the candidate in a statement to Fox. FORMER TRUMP ADVISER KELLYANNE CONWAY LEADS CHARGE TO OVERHAUL GOP ABORTION STRATEGY, END DEMS’ 2024 ADVANTAGE “Curtis has always been a relentless advocate for veterans. It is ridiculous that he is getting attacked for supporting his family and other members of the military on Veterans Day,” he said. Additionally, Hertel’s campaign pointed to the now-retired jacket being available for purchase by the public, and touted his record on veterans’ issues as a state senator, including sponsoring a bill to create a new veterans’ cemetery, supporting legislation to make it easier for Michigan’s service members serving overseas to vote, and supporting a bill that made it easier for disabled veterans’ spouses to receive a property tax exemption. The race for Michigan’s 7th Congressional District is expected to be one of the most closely watched in 2024 as Republicans aim to grow their narrow majority in the House, and Democrats hope to flip the chamber. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The seat is currently held by Democrat Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who is running for Senate to replace retiring Democrat Sen. Debbie Stabenow. Hertel will likely face off in the general election with former Republican state Sen. Tom Barrett, who served in the U.S. Army for more than 20 years. Barrett was the Republican nominee for the district in 2022, but lost to Slotkin 52%-46%. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Mexican president reignites battle with Texas Gov Abbott with challenge over immigration law
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador this week reignited his ongoing feud with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott over U.S. border security when he threatened to challenge the Lone Star State’s new immigration law. The new legislation, signed by Abbott on Monday, allows law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants who would then face the choice to leave the U.S. or be prosecuted on misdemeanor charges for illegal entry. Migrants who don’t comply could face arrest again and more serious felony charges. Abbott said the bill aims to stop a “tidal wave” of illegal immigration. MEXICO’S AMLO INTENSIFIES ANTI-GOP MEDDLING WITH NEW ATTACK ON TEXAS GOV ABBOTT But Lopez Obrador reacted furiously to the new law, and according to Reuters, he said the foreign ministry is already working on a legal challenge to the law. He also accused Abbott of attempting to win political popularity with the move but said it would backfire because there are “a lot of Mexicans” in Texas. “The Texas governor acts that way because he wants to be the Republican vice presidential candidate and wants to win popularity with these measures,” Lopez Obrador said. “He’s not going to win anything. On the contrary, he is going to lose support because there are a lot of Mexicans in Texas, a lot of migrants.” It’s the latest feud between Mexico and Texas and other Republicans over the migrant crisis. The Mexican Foreign Ministry filed a complaint against Texas this year over the construction of buoys set up by the state in the Rio Grande. It had also sought to link the deaths of two migrants in the river to the buoys. “We reiterate the position of the Government of Mexico that the placement of wire buoys by the Texas authorities is a violation of our sovereignty,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. “We express our concern about the impact on the human rights and personal safety of migrants that these state policies will have, which run counter to the close collaboration between our country and the federal government of the United States.” But Abbott’s office pushed back, arguing that information pointed to the drownings occurring before they were near the barriers and that drownings were common even before the barrier was installed. “This is a result of the reckless open border policies of President Biden and President Lopez Obrador. In fact, before Texas deployed barriers, the United Nations declared the U.S.-Mexico border the deadliest land crossing in the world,” an Abbott spokesperson said. “If President Biden and President Lopez Obrador truly cared about human life, they would do their jobs and secure the border.” In July, Lopez Obrador urged Hispanics not to vote for Abbott in response to the buoys. “We don’t have to do much, just tell our compatriots not to vote for the governor of Texas or for lawmakers of the Republican Party who support these measures,” he said. He first targeted Abbott in the summer of 2022 and said that Mexico is “going to ask our countrymen there that they don’t vote for that candidate or party.” MEXICAN PRESIDENT RAMPS UP ANTI-REPUBLICAN RHETORIC, URGES HISPANICS NOT TO GIVE DESANTIS ‘ANY VOTES’ Earlier this year, he announced an “information campaign” against Republicans after they pushed for more action – including military action against cartels – in response to the U.S. fentanyl crisis. “Starting today we are going to start an information campaign for Mexicans who live and work in the United States and for all Hispanics to inform them of what we are doing in Mexico and how this initiative by the Republicans, in addition to being irresponsible, is an offense against the people of Mexico, a lack of respect for our independence, our sovereignty,” he said in March. “And if they do not change their attitude and think that they are going to use Mexico for their propaganda, electoral and political purposes, we are going to call for them not to vote for that party because it is interventionist, inhumane, hypocritical and corrupt,” Lopez Obrador said, later adding that Mexico would be insisting that “not one vote” goes to Republicans from Mexicans and Hispanics. He has also taken aim at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis who, unlike Abbott, is running for presidential in 2024. “I hope the Hispanics of Florida wake up and don’t give him any votes, that they don’t vote for those who persecute migrants, those who don’t respect migrants,” Lopez Obrador said in June. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Bipartisan resolution urges Biden admin to crack down on Iran-backed militia groups
FIRST ON FOX: Senators Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Chris Coons, D-Del., will introduce a resolution Thursday morning condemning attacks by Iranian military proxies on U.S. military service members in Iraq and Syria. “The Iranian regime is attacking Americans, our allies and our interests across the Middle East. They are not only launching attacks and massacres against our Israeli and Arab allies, but their Houthi proxies are now trying to shut down freedom of navigation that is vital to the American and global economies,” Cruz said in a statement. “It is clear that they are not deterred, and it is long past time for the Biden administration to take all necessary steps to deter and counter these activities. Enough is enough.” Coons said Iranian support for the attacks “rightfully earned a swift and forceful response from the Biden administration,” and he called on the Biden administration to “increase pressure on Iran to cease its support for violent militia groups, and support efforts to deter Iranian-backed militia attacks on U.S. troops and the international community.” COALITION DEPLOYS US NAVY’S LETHAL SWISS ARMY KNIFE TO SEND A MESSAGE TO IRAN AND CHINA The Senate resolution received bipartisan support from cosponsors Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.; Katie Britt, R-Ala; John Barrasso, R-Wyo; Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.; Tim Scott, R-S.C.; Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn.; Maggie Hassan, D-N.H.; Michael Bennet, D-Colo.; and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska. There has been an uptick in Iranian proxies targeting American troops in Syria and Iraq since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel, with Iran often providing financing and training to militia groups in the region. US IMPOSES NEW ROUND OF SANCTIONS ON NETWORK INVOLVED IN IRAN’S DRONE PRODUCTION The Biden administration has come under scrutiny for its deals with Iran, including a $6 billion prisoner exchange reportedly paused after Hamas terrorists slaughtered over 1,400 Israelis. Last week, U.S. military bases in Iraq and Syria were attacked again, bringing the number of attacks to at least 90 since Oct. 17. The attacks have been claimed by an umbrella group of Iran-backed Iraqi militants dubbed the Islamic Resistance in Iraq. The militants say their attacks are in retaliation for Washington’s backing of Israel and its military presence in Iraq and Syria. Iran holds considerable sway in Iraq, and a coalition of Iran-backed groups brought Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to power in October 2022. At the same time, there are some 2,000 U.S. troops in Iraq under an agreement with Baghdad, mainly to counter the militant Islamic State group. PENTAGON ANNOUNCES NEW RED SEA INTERNATIONAL MISSION TO COUNTER ESCALATING HOUTHI ATTACKS ON SHIPS Last month, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said the Biden administration needs to be tougher on Iran and that a “massive retaliation” is needed to end attacks on U.S. assets. “Since Joe Biden took office, Iran has attacked American positions in the Middle East, I think now, over 150 times,” Cotton told “Fox News Sunday.” The Republican senator added that the United States has only hit back a few times, and not at targets he would order were he commander in chief. The Senate Armed Services and Senate Intelligence Committee member said he would suggest targeting Iranians operating in Iraq and in Syria. Fox News’ Pilar Arias and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Israel continues deadly attacks on Gaza amid hopes for another truce
Israel bombarded towns across Gaza with air strikes on Wednesday, killing dozens of Palestinians, as talks over securing another truce and captive-prisoner exchange with Hamas continue. At least 46 people were killed and more than 100 wounded after Israel bombarded the urban Jabalia refugee camp near Gaza City, according to Munir al-Bursh, a senior Palestinian health ministry official. In southern Gaza, several women and children were among those brought into Nasser hospital in the city of Khan Younis after the strikes. Gaza’s health ministry also said at least 12 people were killed and dozens were wounded in a series of air strikes in Rafah, near the border with Egypt. “Twelve martyrs and dozens of wounded, including women and children, were recovered from under the rubble when a house and a mosque were targeted hundreds of metres from Kuwaiti hospital,” the ministry said in a statement. The Israeli military also ordered the immediate evacuation of an area covering some 20 percent of central and southern Khan Younis city, which before Israel’s invasion was home to more than 111,000 people and now includes 32 shelters housing more than 141,000 people displaced from northern Gaza by the war. Israel’s notification of the forced relocation was announced online on Wednesday, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), with Palestinians instructed to move to the already overcrowded neighbourhoods in Rafah, further south. Meanwhile, Hamas’s top leader Ismail Haniyeh travelled to Cairo on Wednesday for talks on the war in Gaza, part of a flurry of diplomacy amid hopes of securing another truce and captive-swap deal with Israel. Both sides have recently relaunched indirect talks, mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States. More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began its war on Gaza on October 7. Thousands more lie buried under the rubble of Gaza, the UN estimates. Adblock test (Why?)
‘India out’: Maldives president eyes Middle East partners with early trips
When the new Maldives president, Mohamed Muizzu, stepped on a plane in late November for his first overseas visit since being sworn in barely a week earlier, he was breaking with a longstanding tradition in his country’s diplomatic practices. Across party lines, Maldivian presidents have long made India their first port of call after being elected, in a reflection of the South Asian giant’s traditional influence on the idyllic Indian Ocean archipelago. But Muizzu, who became president after a raucous and divisive anti-India campaign, chose to make his first official trip to Ankara, the capital of Turkey, showcasing an intent to diversify and reorient his country’s foreign policy. At the heart of Muizzu’s efforts is a search for new friends at a time he has made it clear that he intends to pull away from India, according to analysts and sources within the Maldives. It “symbolises a considerable reorientation in the Maldives’s foreign relations, moving away from the longstanding view of India as an essential ally and strategic partner in the Indian Ocean region and South Asia”, Mujib Alam, a professor in international relations at New Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia university, told Al Jazeera. Soon after taking office, Muizzu doubled down on a campaign demand that India should withdraw troops from the Maldives. During the election campaign, his Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) had claimed that India had plans to use the military base that it was building on the island of Uthuruthilafalhu near Male to take over the country. The party built on an “India out” campaign that has, in recent years, projected New Delhi as a hegemon keen to erode the country’s autonomy. India has rejected that suggestion: It has only 77 soldiers in the Maldives, and that includes those who operate two Dhruv helicopters and Dornier aircraft supplied by India to help reach people on distant islands of the archipelago needing medical assistance. Maldivian opposition sources, who did not want to be named, claimed Muizzu understands that Indian troops do not really threaten the country’s sovereignty, but managed to touch a nationalist nerve in the nation for political and electoral dividends. His predecessor, Ibrahim Solih, was seen as particularly close to India. By contrast, Muizzu is viewed by many as closer to China: When he was mayor of Male, he oversaw key Beijing-funded infrastructure projects and promised stronger ties with the Chinese Communist Party if he became president. Yet a visit to China as his first foreign trip could have risked upsetting ties with India — the Maldives’s closest neighbour and leading aid and assistance partner — too far. His choice of Turkey suggests a more nuanced message to India, according to analysts. Signal to India While India views China as a national security threat, its formal ties with Turkey are more steady — though increased scarred by tensions. Turkey has criticised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to abrogate Indian-administered Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status and has highlighted human rights violations in the region at the United Nations. Against this backdrop, Muizzu’s visit to Turkey “would not be an easy track” for India to accept, said Anil Trigunayat, a former Indian diplomat who served as ambassador to Libya and Malta. It is a pointed message to New Delhi, said Professor Alam. “It appears to be a deliberate stance in the context of India-Turkey tensions,” he said. A Turkish official, who requested anonymity, suggested that Ankara had no interest in stoking tensions between India and the Maldives, but was looking after its own interests. Under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has looked to expand its geopolitical clout — playing a vital role in negotiations over the Russia-Ukraine war, among other issues — and South Asia has been no exception. In June, Turkey hosted Bangladesh’s president. Last month, Turkish Airlines resumed direct flights to Sri Lanka after a decade. In January 2022, then-Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu visited the Maldives and Sri Lanka. During Muizzu’s visit to Ankara in November, the two countries signed a free trade agreement and committed to strengthening defence ties: Turkey has one of the world’s most advanced defence industries. Turkey and the Maldives are increasingly also aligned on key geopolitical challenges — they have both strongly criticised Israel’s war on Gaza, while India has been more ambivalent, only recently joining calls for a ceasefire. Yet, Muizzu’s Turkey visit is ultimately less about Ankara and more about distancing Male from New Delhi, said analysts. After his election but before he was sworn in, Muizzu visited the United Arab Emirates. Muizzu returned to the UAE for a second time, for the COP28 summit. In December, Maldives Vice President Hussain Muhammad Latheef visited China. For India, this rift with the Maldives is a cause for anxiety — 50 percent of India’s external trade and 80 percent of its energy imports transit through Indian Ocean sea lanes. For Muizzu, the equation appears clear: If he wants India out, he needs others to come in. That, experts said, is what his trips are about. Adblock test (Why?)
Led by ‘plumes of smoke’: How Gaza’s first responders navigate a blackout
Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip – When Youssef Abdullah’s home in the central Gaza Nuseirat refugee camp was hit by an Israeli air strike, killing 17 members of his family on Saturday morning, no one could call the emergency services. Israeli forces had cut off phone and internet services for the fifth time. The attack was “sudden”, he told Al Jazeera. Two of his children – six-year-old Mohammed and eight-year-old Omar – were among the dead. He, himself, was badly injured. Taking a break from his hospital bed, Youssef Abdullah, 35, was clearly still in shock when he spoke to Al Jazeera outside the busy gates of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, one of the few remaining operational facilities in the Gaza Strip. He was struggling to cover up his broken spirit as he limped on one leg across the courtyard, dressed in clothes still covered in debris. Only seven members of Abdullah’s family survived an air strike on his home, in which two of his young children were killed [Atiyah Darwish/Al Jazeera] Apart from head wounds, Abdullah suffered broken ribs, a broken knee and burns on his arm. “I remember the first thing I saw when I managed to lift my head up, was my wife’s face. Half of it was badly scraped and covered in blood, but she survived,” Abdullah told Al Jazeera. “I hugged her and started frantically calling out for my children.” Most of his family members killed were women and children, he said. Among them were his mother, sister and nieces, as well as his father and brother. Only seven members of his family survived. His cousin, Bassam al-Hafy, lives just a few houses down from him in the Nuseirat camp. Al-Hafy said a neighbour rushed over to inform him of the attack that struck Abdullah’s home so he could “get help”. “There was no way for us to contact medics or a hospital, so I immediately jumped on my bicycle and headed to the nearest hospital, al-Awda Hospital, to call for help,” al-Hafy told Al Jazeera. Bassam al-Hafy says he used his bicycle to rush to the nearest hospital to call for help when his cousin’s home was destroyed in an Israeli air strike, killing 17 members of the family [Atiyah Darwish/Al Jazeera] Earlier this week, Paltel, the main Palestinian telecommunications company, announced it would begin a “gradual restoration” of telecom services in the central and southern areas of Gaza. On at least five occasions now, communications blackouts have effectively cut off Gaza’s residents from the outside world – and from one another. With each blackout, Gaza’s government media office has warned that Palestinians who are subjected to attacks are unable to contact civil defence teams amid heavy bombardment. No one could reach many of those “martyred and wounded”, it said last week. According to Abdullah, the phone and internet blackout definitely “doubled the number of martyrs” in his family. “My brother-in-law was alive, but died because medics arrived 45 minutes later,” he said. This is not uncommon, civil defence workers say. The blackouts, which rights groups have warned are being used to cover potential Israeli war crimes, have repeatedly prevented medics, first responders and firefighters from reaching areas that have been targeted. “Two weeks ago there was an attack in Bureij. By the time we arrived, it was a whole hour later, and people waiting at the scene reacted negatively towards us,” Hatem Abu Taqeyeh, a volunteer medic with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), told Al Jazeera. “They scolded us, asked us why we were so late. But in reality, we simply had no idea this had happened,” the 30-year-old said. Sounds of explosions in areas further away are “not even heard”, which adds to their “stress and anxiety” every time the enclave plunges into digital darkness, Abu Taqeyeh said. Many ‘do not make it’ During the first blackout, shortly after Israel launched its latest war on the Strip, Abu Taqeyeh said civil defence teams would conduct what is known as “field checks”, which means driving around neighbourhoods in case they are needed. But doing this has become increasingly difficult for several reasons. After more than two months of aerial bombardment and ground invasion, Gaza’s roads have become hard to navigate by foot, let alone by car. It has also become increasingly dangerous to move around amid intensified bombing. The lack of fuel to operate vehicles means field inspections have become less and less frequent, Abu Taqeyeh added. The Palestinian Red Crescent says it has repeatedly lost contact with its teams operating on the ground in Gaza [Atiyah Darwish/Al Jazeera] Israel has blocked the entry of much-needed fuel since it imposed a total siege on the already blockaded enclave at the start of the war, and has only allowed a very small amount of aid in through the Rafah border crossing. “With the lack of fuel … we would only go to a location knowing 100 percent that it had just come under attack,” Abu Taqeyeh said. “Otherwise, we stay put.” Abdulrahman Basheer, another volunteer medic with the PRCS, said teams cannot coordinate with any international body without internet or phone lines. The PRCS has repeatedly said it has lost contact with its teams operating on the ground in Gaza amid these blackouts. Other groups, including Doctors without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF), Amnesty International and several United Nations bodies have also reported being abruptly cut off from their teams in Gaza during network outages. To work around this, Basheer said members of his team station themselves at the hospital in case injured people start arriving in vehicles other than ambulances. “They usually come in private cars, in tuk-tuks … or on donkey carts,” Basheer told Al Jazeera. With no access to the internet and without phone lines, even the national emergency services hotline is inaccessible, Abdulrahman Basheer said [Atiyah Darwish/Al Jazeera] Volunteers then ask those coming into the emergency unit about the location and nature of the attack they had just escaped, and
Parliament security breach: Counter Intelligence Unit brings all 6 accused together to match sequence of events
According to Delhi Police, all 6 were kept at five different units of the Special Cell where they were subjected to sustained grilling.
India logs 358 fresh COVID-19 cases, states on alert
Of the total cases, 300 were reported in Kerala, bringing the state’s active cases to 2,341. The total COVID-19 related deaths in Kerala reached 72,059, with three deaths reported
‘Hospitalisations will go up as…’: Former WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan on JN.1 sub-variant
Dr Swaminathan talked about the emergence of the JN.1 variant, a sub-variant of Omicron, expressing hope for mild behaviour but cautioning about increased transmissibility
China urges Philippines to ‘act with caution’ amid South China Sea dispute
Tensions between the two countries have risen this year, with China attempting to disrupt Filipino ship resupply missions. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged Manila to “act with caution” over the hotly-contested South China Sea as his Philippines counterpart Enrique Manalo noted the need for dialogue between the two countries. Tension between Beijing and Manila over the waterway has risen in recent months, particularly in the Scarborough Shoal and Second Thomas Shoal where Manila has accused the Chinese Coast Guard of dangerous actions against Filipino boats during regular resupply missions to sailors on the Sierra Madre, which was grounded there in 1999. Manila has lodged dozens of diplomatic protests over China’s behaviour and earlier this month, summoned the Chinese ambassador after a collision between Chinese and Filipino vessels. Wang and Manalo spoke by phone on Wednesday with China’s Foreign Ministry releasing a five-paragraph readout of the discussions – noting that Manalo had talked about Manila’s views on Second Thomas Shoal – but alleged that any spike in tensions was Manila’s fault. “The root cause is that the Philippines has changed its policy stance so far, reneged on its commitments, continued to provoke and cause trouble at sea, and undermined China’s legitimate and legitimate rights,” the statement said. “China-Philippines relations are at a crossroads. Faced with the choice of where to go, the Philippines must act with caution.” Second Thomas Shoal lies about 195km (121 miles) from the western Philippine island of Palawan and more than 1,000km (621 miles) from China’s southern Hainan island. Beijing seized Scarborough Shoal from Manila after a months-long standoff in 2012. The shoal lies about 220km (137 miles) off the coast of the Philippines and falls within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), according to international maritime law. In a brief statement, Manalo described the call with Wang as a “frank and candid exchange”. “We ended our call with a clearer understanding of our respective positions on a number of issues,” he said in the statement. “We both noted the importance of dialogue in addressing these issues.” China claims almost the entire South China Sea under its so-called nine-dash line. After the Scarborough Shoal incident, Manila took its case to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. The court ruled in 2016 that China’s claims had no legal basis but Beijing has ignored the ruling, doubling down on its claim by building artificial islands, establishing military installations and deploying its coast guard, maritime militia and commercial fishing fleet to the waters. Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam also claim parts of the sea and the latter two have also reported incidents with Chinese vessels. Since Ferdinand Marcos Jr became the Philippines’s president in 2022, the country has revived its once close relationship with the United States, expanding a defence pact giving Washington access to more of its military bases. In the call, Wang said Beijing was committed to dialogue but also issued a warning. “If the Philippines misjudges the situation, insists on going its own way, or even colludes with malicious external forces to continue causing trouble and chaos, China will definitely safeguard its rights in accordance with the law and respond resolutely,” he said in the statement. Adblock test (Why?)