The Philippine defense chief condemned China’s deployment of a swarm of armed coast guard forces, backed by a helicopter and a drone, closer to the Philippines’ military outpost in a fiercely disputed atoll in the South China Sea.

The latest flare-up in the long-seething territorial disputes around the Second Thomas Shoal came up in closed-door talks between Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and his visiting Australian counterpart,

Australia’s defense minister and his Philippine counterpart are to meet in Manila for talks that will spotlight their concern over Beijing’s actions in the South China Sea