Australia seeks military talks with China, ties with Philippines

Tom Westbrook - Reuters - 02/06
Australia has asked for military talks with China and is comfortable growing closer to the Philippines, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said on Sunday at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit.
SINGAPORE, June 2 (Reuters) - Australia has asked for military talks with China and is comfortable growing closer to the Philippines, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said on Sunday at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit.
China and the Philippines are locked in confrontation in the disputed South China Sea and their encounters have grown more tense as Beijing presses its claims to shoals in waters that Manila says are well within its exclusive economic zone.
Australia has stepped up its presence in the region and a joint amphibious exercise with the Philippines at Palawan island in August was Australia's biggest outside its own borders last year.
Australia has also said its recent encounters with China's military fell short of being safe and professional, and Marles said he discussed the issue with Chinese defence chief Dong Jun on the sidelines of the conference on Saturday.
"The substantive request that we had out of the meeting with China was to grow the defence dialogue," Marles told Reuters.
"We really...
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