KURT CAMPBELL

President Joe Biden has pledged in his first face-to-face meeting with new Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to work to strengthen relations with the key Pacific nation after what he acknowledged had been some “rocky times” in the past.

China’s response to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan was anything but subtle — dispatching warships and military aircraft to all sides of the self-governing island democracy, and firing ballistic missiles into the waters nearby.

The U.S. government will hold talks with Taiwan on a trade agreement in a sign of support for the self-ruled island democracy China claims as its own territory.

Taiwan is high on the summer travel list for U.S. members of Congress on their August recess this year.

The training will include strikes on ground targets and troop deployment, the Chinese Defense Ministry said. China's expanding military activities have alarmed the U.S. and its allies.

The Chinese air force is sending fighter jets and bombers to Thailand for a joint exercise with the Thai military on Sunday. The training will include air support, strikes on ground targets and small- and large-scale troop deployment, the Chinese Defense Ministry said in a statement posted on its website. China's expanding military activities in the Asia-Pacific region have alarmed the United States and its allies and form part of a growing strategic and economic competition that has inflamed tensions between the world's two largest economies.

The U.S. deputy secretary of state says the prime minister of the Solomon Islands “missed an important opportunity” by failing to attend a memorial service to mark the anniversary of a key World War II battle, amid concerns the South Pacific island nation is building closer ties with China.

Australia’s new foreign minister has visited the Solomon Islands to assure the South Pacific island nation it does not need a security pact with China.

President Joe Biden says he’s nominating one of his top national security aides to serve as his ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

President Joe Biden is hosting leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as his administration tries to show that the United States hasn’t lost focus on the Pacific.

A senior U.S. delegation has arrived in the Solomon Islands to express its concerns that China could send military forces to the South Pacific nation and destabilize the region.

The Solomon Islands prime minister has confirmed that his government has signed a new security agreement with China, but told lawmakers it would not undermine the peace and harmony of the region, as has been feared by the opposition and countries including the United States and Australia.

The announcement, coming right before a U.S. envoy was to visit, has stirred fears among local opposition leaders and U.S. allies that the deal could lead to a Chinese military presence in the islands.

The U.S. is sending two top officials to the Solomon Islands following a visit by an Australian senator over concerns that China could establish a military presence in the South Pacific island nation.

Joe Biden set out to be the U.S. president who finally completed the “Asia pivot,” Washington lingo for a long-sought adjustment of U.S. foreign policy to better reflect China's rise.

President Obama called for a greater focus on Asia to prepare for the challenges of the 21st century. A decade later, Obama's vice president, now President Biden, seems intent on making it happen.

White House Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell said the US supports a strong unofficial relationship with Taiwan

Australia's treasurer says his country will always put its national interests ahead of economic interests in its troubled relationship with China.

The U.S.-China relationship should not be viewed as a "new cold war," White House coordinator for the Indo-Pacific Kurt Campbell said at an Asia Society event.

Russia Thursday blocked at least two European planes from landing in Moscow because they planned to avoid Belarusian airspace after Belarus diverted a Lithuania-bound flight to detain a government dissident on Monday, U.S. News reports.Why it matters: The move comes after the EU told European airlines not to fly over Belarus, and appears to seek to undermine the bloc's response to the country's strongman leader Aleksandr Lukashenko, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for freeContext: EU leaders have described Lukashenko ordering the diversion of the Ryanair flight to arrest journalist Raman Pratasevich as a "hijacking," as did the CEO of Ryanair.Lukashenko claimed this week the action was necessary to quell a bomb threat.The UN's civil aviation agency, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), said in a statement the landing "could be in contravention of the Chicago Convention," a treaty protecting airspace sovereignty.The EU, in addition to telling European airlines not to fly over Belarus, banned Belarusian airlines and promised more economic sanctions on the country.The big picture: Russia on Thursday blocked an Austrian Airlines flight from Vienna and an Air France flight from Paris from landing in Moscow.The Kremlin denied any involvement in the detention of Pratasevich but did not criticize Lukashenko's actions. Go deeper ... Biden: U.S. will coordinate with the EU on Belarus responseMore from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free

President Joe Biden has beefed up his foreign policy team with several experts on Asia — a move analysts said signals renewed efforts to raise U.S. standing in a region where China's influence is growing. The Biden administration has identified a rising and more assertive China as one of its biggest foreign policy challenges, and stressed the importance of allies in responding to the strategic competition posed by Beijing. China policy in 2021 I think is actually gonna be about ally policy. He was widely credited for the Obama administration's pivot to Asia — a strategy seen faltering during Donald Trump's term. Potential U.S. strategy in the Indo-PacificWhile the Biden administration has not laid out a foreign policy blueprint for Asia, Campbell offered some insights in an article he co-wrote for Foreign Affairs magazine last month.