U.S. 'ready' to assist Philippines with South China Sea resupplies

BAGUIO, Philippines -- The U.S. is ready to assist Filipino resupply missions to outposts in the South China Sea as maritime tensions with China continue to flare, Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said on Thursday.

"We stand ready," Paparo told reporters gathered in Baguio, a northern city in Luzon, on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the Mutual Defense Board, which was set up in 1958 to improve defense cooperation between the two countries. "It's a matter of policy post-consultation, and there's a range of options that are available."