The Senate has confirmed former Sen. David Perdue as ambassador to China, just as the U.S. and China are locked in a tariff showdown.

The US Senate has confirmed that former Georgia Senator David Perdue will become ambassador to China, a key post amid the Trump administration's escalating trade tensions with Beijing. Perdue, who was nominated by Trump during the transition period in December,

"You don't know whether or not China's going to eat it," Trump said of the potential for tariffs on Chinese goods to increase consumer prices.

Companies like Alibaba that built China’s world-leading online shopping sector are now helping its sellers find markets beyond the United States.

China has declared sovereignty over an uninhabited reef, known as Sandy Cay, in the South China Sea. The Philippines says the claim is fake news. Bloomberg's Cliff Venzon reports on the latest escalation of tensions between Manila and Beijing.

China says six Filipinos landed on a tiny outcropping that both countries claim in the South China Sea , days after photos emerged of Chinese coast guard officers displaying a Chinese flag on the same group of sandbars.