JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said he would "always safeguard our sovereignty" when asked about the issue of the South China Sea, adding partnerships are better than conflicts and that "we respect all powers".

China has published baselines for a contested shoal in the South China Sea it had seized from the Philippines, a move that’s likely to increase tensions over overlapping territorial claims. The Foreign Ministry on Sunday posted online geographic ...

The move was a direct response to the Philippines’ enactment of two new laws aimed at strengthening the country’s own maritime claims.

China is putting ever greater pressure on the Philippines to cede its sovereign rights in the South China Sea, Manila's Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said on Tuesday after meeting his Australian counterpart in Canberra.

The move from Beijing comes just a day after the Philippines signed two laws defining the country’s maritime zones

Over the weekend, the two nations signed a joint development agreement that refers to “overlapping claims” in the disputed waterway.

Indonesia said on Monday it does not recognise China's claims over the South China Sea, despite signing a maritime development deal with Beijing, as some analysts warned the pact risked compromising its sovereign rights.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signed two laws reaffirming the extent of his country’s maritime territories and right to resources, including in the South China Sea, where the new laws clash with Beijing’s extensive territorial claims.

China is putting ever-greater pressure on the Philippines to cede its sovereign rights in the South China Sea, Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro said on Tuesday after a meeting with his Australian counterpart in Canberra.