BEIJING: The US poses the largest security challenge in the South China Sea as its military deployment there is turning it into “the whirlpool of an arms race,” Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong said in remarks published on Sunday.
Recent maritime run-ins between China and the Philippines, a US treaty ally, have made the highly strategic South China Sea a potential flashpoint between Washington and Beijing.
“At present, the biggest security challenge in the South China Sea comes from outside the region,” Sun said in comments published by his ministry, after attending a high-level meeting on East Asian cooperation in Laos.
Sun said US-led forces were “promoting military deployment and actions in the South China Sea, inciting and intensifying maritime disputes and contradictions, and damaging the legitimate rights and interests of coastal countries.”
A move by the United States to deploy medium-range missile systems in the area “is dragging the region into the whirlpool of an arms race, placing the entire Asia Pacific region under the shadow of geopolitical conflicts,” Sun said.
China is committed to properly managing disputes with the parties in the South China Sea through dialogue, he added.
In April, the Philippines said during a meeting with US allies that it was determined to assert its sovereign rights in the South China Sea, accusing China of escalating “its harassment” of the Philippines.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion in annual ship commerce, and has deployed hundreds of coast guard vessels as far as 1,000 km off its mainland to police what it says is its jurisdiction.
The Philippines and China have sparred repeatedly this past year near disputed features that fall within Manila’s exclusive economic zone. China routinely accuses the Philippines of encroachment while Manila and its allies have condemned what they call aggression by Beijing.
The United States has said it stands with Manila.
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Beijing says US provoking arms race in moves into South China Sea
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Beijing says US provoking arms race in moves into South China Sea
- American-led forces ‘promoting military deployment and actions in the South China Sea’
- China is committed to properly managing disputes with the parties in the South China Sea through dialogue
Portugal fears disruption in first general strike in 12 years
LISBON: Portugal braced on Thursday for its first general strike in 12 years, as unions urge action against the right-wing minority government’s planned workers’ rights reforms.
Widespread disruption is expected for public transport, schools, courts and hospitals, as workers protest against a draft law aiming to simplify firing procedures, extend the length of fixed-term contracts and expand the minimum services required during a strike.
The walk-out is expected to be Portugal’s largest since June 2013, when the country was forced to gut public spending in exchange for international aid after being engulfed by a debt crisis that affected several European nations.
Prime Minister Luis Montenegro insisted that the labor reforms, with more than 100 measures, were intended to “stimulate economic growth and pay better salaries.”
But the communist-leaning CGTP and more moderate UGT unions have lambasted the plans.
The CGTP is organizing about 20 demonstrations across the country. Its secretary general Tiago Oliveira called the reforms “among the biggest attacks on the world of work.” He told AFP the government action would “normalize job insecurity,” “deregulate working hours” and “make dismissals easier.”
Out of a working population of some five million people, around 1.3 million are already in insecure positions, Oliveira said.
- ‘Already a success’ -
Private sector unions are set to join the action.
The TAP Air Portugal national airline expects just a third of its 250 usual flights to get off the ground, while the national railway company has warned the disruption could spill over into Friday.
With Portugal set to elect a new president in early 2026, Oliveira said he considered the strike was “already a success” as it had drawn public attention to the government labor reforms.
“Without a doubt, we’ll have a great general strike,” the union leader added.
Public opinion is largely behind the action, with 61 percent of those polled in favor of the walk-out, according to a survey published in the Portuguese press.
On the eve of the strike, Montenegro said he hoped “that the country will function as normally as possible... because the rights of some must not infringe on the rights of others.”
Although his right-wing party lacks a majority in parliament, Montenegro’s government should be able to force the bill through with the support of the liberals — and the far right, which has become the second-largest political force in Portugal.
The left-wing opposition has accused Montenegro’s camp of not telling voters that workers’ rights roll-backs were on the cards while campaigning for the last parliamentary elections.
Although Portugal has recorded economic growth of around two percent and a historically low unemployment rate of some six percent, the prime minister has argued that the country should take advantage of the favorable climate to push through reforms.
Widespread disruption is expected for public transport, schools, courts and hospitals, as workers protest against a draft law aiming to simplify firing procedures, extend the length of fixed-term contracts and expand the minimum services required during a strike.
The walk-out is expected to be Portugal’s largest since June 2013, when the country was forced to gut public spending in exchange for international aid after being engulfed by a debt crisis that affected several European nations.
Prime Minister Luis Montenegro insisted that the labor reforms, with more than 100 measures, were intended to “stimulate economic growth and pay better salaries.”
But the communist-leaning CGTP and more moderate UGT unions have lambasted the plans.
The CGTP is organizing about 20 demonstrations across the country. Its secretary general Tiago Oliveira called the reforms “among the biggest attacks on the world of work.” He told AFP the government action would “normalize job insecurity,” “deregulate working hours” and “make dismissals easier.”
Out of a working population of some five million people, around 1.3 million are already in insecure positions, Oliveira said.
- ‘Already a success’ -
Private sector unions are set to join the action.
The TAP Air Portugal national airline expects just a third of its 250 usual flights to get off the ground, while the national railway company has warned the disruption could spill over into Friday.
With Portugal set to elect a new president in early 2026, Oliveira said he considered the strike was “already a success” as it had drawn public attention to the government labor reforms.
“Without a doubt, we’ll have a great general strike,” the union leader added.
Public opinion is largely behind the action, with 61 percent of those polled in favor of the walk-out, according to a survey published in the Portuguese press.
On the eve of the strike, Montenegro said he hoped “that the country will function as normally as possible... because the rights of some must not infringe on the rights of others.”
Although his right-wing party lacks a majority in parliament, Montenegro’s government should be able to force the bill through with the support of the liberals — and the far right, which has become the second-largest political force in Portugal.
The left-wing opposition has accused Montenegro’s camp of not telling voters that workers’ rights roll-backs were on the cards while campaigning for the last parliamentary elections.
Although Portugal has recorded economic growth of around two percent and a historically low unemployment rate of some six percent, the prime minister has argued that the country should take advantage of the favorable climate to push through reforms.
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