Stay informed with free updates

Simply sign up to the US-China relations myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin accused China of dangerously harassing the Philippines, in a speech to Indo-Pacific defence officials that stressed Washington’s steadfast commitment to the region’s security.

Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue defence forum in Singapore, Austin pointed to China’s aggressive acts towards the Philippines, which have included the use of water cannons to try to block resupply missions at the Second Thomas Shoal, a disputed reef.

“The harassment that the Philippines has faced is dangerous — plain and simple,” Austin said. He spoke a day after Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos Jr warned the annual defence forum that China was engaging in “illegal, coercive [and] aggressive” activity towards his country.

“President Marcos spoke eloquently last night about the rule of law in the South China Sea. And he’s right,” Austin said. “Every country, large or small, has the right to enjoy its own maritime resources and to freely sail and operate wherever international law allows.”

Austin’s comments came one day after his first meeting with a Chinese defence minister since late 2022. The Pentagon chief said he had held a “frank discussion” with Dong Jun, who was named Beijing’s defence minister in December.

Marcos on Friday told the forum that any wilful act by China that killed a Filipino citizen would be very close to “an act of war”. The US has also told Beijing that the US-Philippines mutual defence treaty applies to the Sierra Madre, a ship grounded on the Second Thomas Shoal inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

Austin outlined initiatives the US had taken over the past three years to bolster alliances and create mini lateral security arrangements. He said Washington was “deeply committed” to the Indo-Pacific.

“We’re all in. And we’re not going anywhere,” Austin said.

In an earlier exchange at the event, US Indo-Pacific command head Admiral Samuel Paparo rebuked Cui Tiankai, China’s former ambassador to the US, for accusing Washington of sparking tension in the region by forming “blocs” and focusing with its allies on the need to boost deterrence.

“Ambassador, my dear friend, you’re speaking as if all the panellists here want to fight,” Paparo said. “That is absolutely the last thing that we want to do. We are the life insurance policy against fight.”

Austin said the US and its allies in the Indo-Pacific — including Japan, Australia, the Philippines and South Korea — were engineering a historic “convergence” of their defence interests by creating a “set of overlapping and complementary initiatives and institutions” that would boost military co-operation, develop new capabilities and enhance security.

The Florida sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot a U.S. Air Force airman during a response to report of a disturbance has been fired, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.

An internal investigation of the May 3 shooting found Deputy Eddie Duran’s use of deadly force that ended in the death of Senior Airman Roger Fortson was not reasonable, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office.

“The objective facts do not support the use of deadly force as an appropriate response to Mr. Fortson’s actions,” Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden said in the office’s statement.

Duran could not be reached for comment Friday.

Two Florida organizations that represent law enforcement and offer legal help when deputies are accused of wrongdoing, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It’s unclear if either represents Duran.

Fortson, 23, was fatally shot when he opened the door of his apartment in Fort Walton Beach, about 40 miles east of Pensacola, after Duran knocked and announced the presence of law enforcement, the sheriff’s office said.

Duran was responding to a report of a disturbance in progress, and an employee of the complex directed him to the unit where Fortson lived, the office said.

A person described as a neighbor told a sheriff’s dispatcher at the time that they could hear what they believed to be an argument between a man and woman at the unit that sounded like it was getting physical, and that it wasn’t the first time loud arguing could be heard in the area of the apartment, according to the investigative report.

After knocking but not announcing who he was, Duran knocked twice more while each time announcing “sheriff’s office,” the office said.

Fortson opened the front door and the two faced each other, the office said. The airman had a gun at his side, pointed down, and did not aim it and did not resist the deputy before Duran opened fire, it said.

“Mr. Fortson did not commit any crime,” Aden said. “By all accounts, he was an exceptional airman and individual.”

Fortson died at a hospital.

At a May 9 news conference, Fortson’s family and their attorneys said he had been home alone and on a video call with his girlfriend before the shooting. They said he thought someone was trying to break in, and that they believe the deputy responded to the wrong apartment.

Earlier this month the sheriff’s office released body camera footage of the incident. It shows Fortson answering the door of his off-base apartment and immediately being shot multiple times.

The sheriff’s office initially said in a statement after the shooting that Duran “reacted in self defense.”

But the internal investigation made it clear the office believes Duran violated agency policy.

It concluded “Mr. Fortson did not make any hostile, attacking movements, and therefore, the former deputy’s use of deadly force was not objectively reasonable under OSCO’s policy,” the office said on Friday.

Fortson was based at Hurlburt Field Air Force base in Okaloosa County. His family has retained high-profile civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement continues to investigate the shooting.

Unlock the US Election Countdown newsletter for free

The stories that matter on money and politics in the race for the White House

Donald Trump’s campaign said it had shattered its own fundraising record after his felony conviction on Thursday, even as US President Joe Biden said the rule of law in the country had been “reaffirmed” by the New York jury.

The Trump campaign on Friday morning said it had raised $34.8mn following the verdict, showing again the former US commander-in-chief’s ability to capitalise on his legal problems to bankroll his re-election bid.

The verdict in New York found Trump guilty on all 34 counts in his ‘hush money’ case, ushering in a new and unprecedented era in US presidential politics.

Trump hailed the verdict’s impact on his fundraising efforts at a Friday press conference in Trump Tower, his New York home.

“The good news is last night . . . they raised with small money donors, meaning like $21, $42, $53, $38, [for each donation], a record $39mn in about a 10-hour period,” he said, adding that he would be appealing against the “scam” verdict.

Within minutes of the guilty verdict on Thursday, the campaign acted to raise money, calling the ex-president a “POLITICAL PRISONER” on its website.

“I was just convicted in a RIGGED political Witch Hunt trial,” wrote Trump on the campaign page. “I DID NOTHING WRONG!”

Biden criticised his predecessor and his allies for attacking the US justice system.

“The American principle that no one is above the law was reaffirmed, Donald Trump was given every opportunity to defend himself,” the president said, speaking from the White House on Friday afternoon.

“It’s reckless, it’s dangerous. it’s irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged, just because they don’t like the verdict.”

The Trump campaign said the near-$35mn raised was almost double the sum garnered on its best-ever day on the WinRed donation platform. The site briefly crashed on Thursday.

Trump’s campaign has stepped up its fundraising efforts, including holding events with oil barons in Texas and a planned June trip to Silicon Valley, as the Republican tries to narrow Biden’s cash advantage with five months to go before November’s election.

Republicans and donors immediately claimed fundraising victories after the verdict, which found Trump guilty of conspiring to buy the silence of porn actor Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 election and cover his tracks in business records.

Jason Thielman, who runs the official Senate Republican campaign arm, said his group had “its largest online daily fundraising haul” of the 2024 election cycle. He wrote on X, “Outrage over the sham verdict against Trump has spurred average Americans into action!”

Last year, the ex-president used each of his four indictments to boost his fundraising effort, selling T-shirts bearing his mugshot, with contributions spiking each time. But Trump political groups have spent at least $80mn of donor money on his legal fees — and have roughly that much cash less in their election war chest than groups supporting Biden.

Trump still faces a civil fraud judgment that threatens his businesses in New York, and three criminal cases, including charges from the Department of Justice special counsel that he conspired to overturn the 2020 election.

While the campaign highlighted the small-dollar donations that poured in following Thursday’s verdict, several wealthy donors also announced their support after the case finished.

Venture capitalist Shaun Maguire, a partner in venture capital firm Sequoia, on Thursday said he had donated $300,000 to Trump’s campaign after the verdict, writing on X, “The timing isn’t a coincidence.”

New York Republican Lee Zeldin, a former US congressman, also claimed on X after the verdict that he had “secured” a $800,000 donation for Trump.

“Never experienced a massive ask that easy,” Zeldin wrote.

Google searches for DonaldJTrump.com and WinRed spiked more than 5,000 per cent, “trump campaign website” jumped at least 1,000 per cent and “biden campaign website” jumped more than 350 per cent.

Several megadonors have also swung behind Trump in recent days, with billionaires Stephen Schwarzman, Bill Ackman and Miriam Adelson all making moves to back the former president’s re-election bid.

Additional reporting by Sam Learner in New York