Donald Trump’s second term in office is getting off to a good start for China.

President Donald Trump said he’d prefer not to have to impose tariffs on China, his latest dovish remark toward the world’s second-biggest economy even as he continues to threaten sweeping action.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday met virtually with his counterparts from Japan and the Philippines to advance cooperation among the three countries, the White House said.

The Philippines won a landmark case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 that found China's sweeping claim of sovereignty in the South China Sea had no basis under international law. It now wants to hold Beijing accountable for what it says is its harvesting of giant clams and substantial environmental damage to coral reefs in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.

The Philippine government launched a comic book Friday asserting its claims in the disputed South China Sea, amid rising tensions with Beijing over the strategic waterway.China claims most of the South China Sea despite an international tribunal ruling it without basis,