China Protests After US Rallies Allies in South China Sea

China has blasted President Joe Biden’s upcoming summit with two key Pacific allies as an attempt to “cobble together exclusive groups” and inflame regional tensions. The remark by China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on Monday came days before U.S. President Joe Biden hosts Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the countries’ first trilateral summit. These talks come amid Beijing’s increasingly assertive moves to back up its territorial claims and are expected to address countering China in the Asia-Pacific. Beijing’s reaction also comes on the heels of the first joint naval exercises between the…