Washington will defend treaty ally the Philippines if its forces are attacked in the South China Sea, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said, urging China to follow international law and cease "provocative behavior" in the busy waterway.
Blinken made the comments on Monday, the sixth anniversary of a ruling by an international tribunal that invalidated China's sweeping claims to the South China Sea, a conduit for about $3 trillion worth of ship-borne trade each year.
