Biden backs Trump rejection of China's South China Sea claim

Washington DC: The Biden administration on Sunday upheld a Trump-era rejection of nearly all of China's significant maritime claims in the South China Sea.

The administration also warned China that any attack on the Philippines in the flashpoint region would draw a US response under a mutual defense treaty.

The stern message from Secretary of State Antony Blinken came in a statement released ahead of this week's fifth anniversary of an international tribunal's ruling in favour of the Philippines, against China's maritime claims around the Spratly Islands and neighbouring reefs and shoals. China rejects the ruling.