Russia's state nuclear giant Rosatom, operator of the Northern Sea Route via the Arctic, said on Friday it had issued permits for seven Chinese transit vessels to sail to Europe via the NSR.
The Philippine foreign ministry said it did not condone threats of violence against foreign officials after five caskets containing anti-China messages were found abandoned in Manila in the early hours of Friday morning.
South Korea's Foreign and Unification ministers publicly disagreed this week over how to engage North Korea, exposing differences within President Lee Jae Myung's government as it seeks to revive stalled contact with Pyongyang.