Philippine president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr said Thursday he would uphold an international ruling against Beijing over the disputed South China Sea (SCS), insisting he would not let China trample on Manila's maritime rights. China claims almost all of the resource-rich waterway, through which trillions of dollars in trade passes annually, with competing claims from the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. Beijing has ignored a 2016 decision by The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) that declared its historical claim to be without basis. Outgoing President

China has put forward plans to dramatically expand security and economic cooperation with South Pacific nations, in what one regional leader called a thinly veiled effort to lock them into "Beijing's orbit". The wide-ranging draft agreement and a five-year plan, both obtained by AFP, will be the subject of discussion during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's tour of Pacific nations, which began Thursday. The package would offer 10 small island states millions of dollars in Chinese assistance, the prospect of a China-Pacific Islands free trade agreement (FTA) and access to China's lucrative

Ferdinand Marcos Jr was Wednesday proclaimed the next Philippine president after a landslide win that rights groups and religious leaders fear could weaken the corruption-prone country's democracy. Marcos, who formally takes office next month, secured more than 31.6 million votes, or 58.8 percent of the total, according to a final tally released by parliament. He was the first presidential candidate to win an outright majority since his dictator father, who presided over widespread graft and human rights abuses, was ousted by a popular revolt in 1986. A joint session of the House of