Australia news LIVE: Ley attacks Albanese for Joy Division shirt; AUKUS won’t be expanded to include Japan

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr sat down with Anthony Albanese in Kuala Lumpur today to discuss, among other things, the importance of adhering to international rules – especially the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

It’s an obvious reference to China’s actions in – and over – the vast and contested South China Sea.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.Credit: AP

China, illegally, claims ownership to almost all of it, and harasses anyone getting to what it perceives to be too close.

Albanese has been upset with his Chinese “friends” this week because a Chinese army aircraft flung a flare too close for comfort as an Australian jet cruised over the sea on October 19.

Tell me about it, man, Marcos may well have told Albanese after they went behind closed doors.

The Philippines and China duke it out almost weekly in on-water clashes over who controls the eastern extremes of the South China Sea, or, as Manila likes to call it, the West Philippine Sea.

“The Philippines is grateful [Australia] always stands shoulder to shoulder with the Philippines in the face of some of the challenges, the common challenges, that we have to deal with in our region,” Marcos said after congratulating Albanese on his “famous” election win this year.

Meanwhile, a US helicopter and fighter jet separately crashed in the South China Sea yesterday, with the incidents occurring 30 minutes apart and coinciding with a visit by US President Donald Trump to Asia.