This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Pressure is mounting in the East as the People's Republic of China continues aggressively to engage with surrounding nations. Attempts by the U.S. to calm the situation have been met with several stern warnings of war.

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is in Beijing this week in an effort to stabilize relations between the U.S. and China. Sullivan met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, to discuss various issues, including Taiwan.

"President Biden has been very clear in his conversations with President Xi that he is committed to managing this important relationship responsibly," Sullivan said.

In a statement from the White House released Wednesday, it details Sullivan's meeting, and reiterated Sullivan's comments about the Biden administration being committed to maintaining channels of communication between the two nations.

"The two sides held candid, substantive, and constructive discussions on a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues. They discussed progress and next steps on implementation of the Woodside Summit commitments, including counternarcotics, military-to-military communications, and AI safety and risk," the White House said.

The U.S. is taking steps to prevent U.S. technologies from being used to undermine national security, and Sullivan raised concerns with Wang over China's unfair trade policies and practices, according to White House officials.

Sullivan further voiced concerns to Wang over China's growing aggression towards Taiwan and the maritime attacks on Philippine vessels in the South China Sea.

"Mr. Sullivan reaffirmed the United States' commitment to defending its Indo–Pacific allies and expressed concern about the PRC's destabilizing actions against lawful Philippine maritime operations in the South China Sea," the White House said.

According to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, Wang reportedly issued a warning to Sullivan about the U.S. being involved in disputes between China and U.S. allies.

"The United States must not use bilateral treaties as an excuse to undermine China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, nor should it support or condone the Philippines's actions of infringement," Wang said.

Over the past week, China has repeatedly used force against Philippine vessels near the Spratly Islands, a rich fishing ground within the Philippine Economic Exclusion Zone.

Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela said in a post on X China used 40 vessels to block supplies being delivered to soldiers who are stationed in Sabina Shoal, an atoll within the island chain.

Collin Koh, a senior fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, told CNN the Philippines is trying to avoid confrontation with China.

"China is deliberately escalating the situation, with a likely intention to test how far Washington would support Manila…It's a high-stakes game for Manila. The domestic circumstances all point to the very fact that now Sabina Shoal is where you could not yield an inch to the Chinese," Koh said.

Koh pointed out on X the Chinese are attempting to blame the U.S. for their recent actions against the Philippines.

China Daily recently published an editorial on how the U.S. should respect China's sovereignty, because the U.S. expects the same.

However, China has been caught on more than one occasion stealing intellectual property from the U.S., as well as using Chinese nationals to position themselves within American companies, to steal information and spy on Chinese dissidents in the U.S.

According to a report from Lumen's Black Lotus Labs, a Chinese state–sponsored hacking group was observed infiltrating internet service providers, managed service providers, and IT sectors, exploiting a zero-day vulnerability in Versa Director servers since at least June 2024.

"Given the severity of the vulnerability, the implications of compromised Versa Director systems, and the time that has now elapsed to allow Versa customers to patch the vulnerability, Black Lotus Labs felt it was appropriate to release this information at this time. Lumen Technologies shared threat intelligence to warn appropriate U.S. Government agencies of the emerging risks that could impact our nation's strategic assets," the report states.

FBI Director Richard Wray said during a congressional hearing six months ago, that Chinese hackers pose a very real threat to the American people.

"PRC hackers are targeting our critical infrastructure; our water treatment plants, our electrical grid, our oil and natural gas pipelines, our transportation systems, and the risk that poses to every American requires our attention now. China's hackers are positioning on American infrastructure in preparation to wreak havoc and cause real world harm to American citizens and communities," Wray said.

Russia, one of China's closest allies, issued a World War III warning over U.S. involvement in its war with Ukraine, when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated the U.S. is overly confident the war would only stay in Europe.

"Americans have this direct association, these conversations, talk of a world war. They think if this happens, it would only concern countries in Europe, which is a very showing thing that reflects the mentality of those duo–political strategists in the U.S., because they are confident they will just be safe across the ocean,": Lavrov said.

Lavrov hinted at the possible use of nuclear weapons by Russia in the event World War III does indeed happen.

"One has to understand that we have our own doctrine, a doctrine of using nuclear weapons amongst other things, and we are making adjustments to this doctrine, and the Americans are well aware of these doctrines," Lavrov said.

Lavrov stated Americans expect other nations to "do their dirty job" for them, and warned against the U.S. "playing with fire."

"The West does not want to avoid escalation. The West, as they say, is "asking for it," Lavrov said.