The United States has been shoring up alliances in the Asia-Pacific seeking to counter China's assertiveness in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, as Beijing seeks to advance its territorial claims.

The states filing the brief were California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Novak Djokovic said he had no regrets about missing tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami due to his Covid-19 vaccination status but hoped that he would be allowed into the United States later this year for the US Open.

"The theater forces will maintain a high state of alert at all times and take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security and peace and stability in the South China Sea," said Tian Junli, a spokesman for China's Southern Theatre Command.

WARSAW, March 27 (Reuters) - Russian and Belarusian athletes should be banned from the 2024 Olympics in Paris unless Moscow pulls its forces out of Ukraine, according to Poland, Britain and the Baltic states, despite the IOC saying it plans to let them compete as neutrals.

'We recently adjusted staffing levels to better prepare for the future needs of customers,' Walmart said in a statement, adding that it would work closely with affected associates to find jobs at other locations.

BEIJING, March 23 (Reuters) - China has never deliberately pursued a trade surplus with the United States, Shu Jueting, a commerce ministry spokesperson, said on Thursday, despite signs that China is continuing to reduce its reliance on American exports.

On a post-earnings call in February, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said he was 'most excited about the automation opportunity we have' with plans to increase investments in automation technology as part of its more than $15-billion capital expenditure budget this year.

Walmart has been investing heavily in automation over the past few years, partnering with automation companies such as Knapp to help it cut down the number of steps it takes employees to process e-commerce orders to five from 12, which has been implemented at its Pedricktown, New Jersey location, for instance.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) sanctioned Russia and Belarus after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 but is now reluctant to exclude their athletes from the Olympics entirely for fear of a return to the boycotts of the Cold War era.

The spokesperson said impacted workers would be paid for 90 days to find jobs at other facilities, including those in Joliet, Illinois, and Lancaster, Texas, where the company has opened up new high-tech e-commerce distribution centers.

It identifies inflation as primarily responsible for this figure. 7 shows that exports to China increased by $2.4 billion on the year to hit a "record high" of $153.8 billion in 2022, that is an "empty statement", according to a new report from the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE).

About 200 workers at Pedricktown, New Jersey, and hundreds of others at Fort Worth, Texas; Chino, California; Davenport, Florida; and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania were let go due to a reduction or elimination in evening and weekend shifts, the spokesperson said.

"We strongly believe that now is not the time to consider the opening up of a pathway for Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to the Olympic Games in any status," the Polish foreign ministry said in a statement issued jointly with Britain, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

The brief from the Caribbean governments, which was joined by a network of non-governmental organizations, follows a summit among regional leaders last month held in the Bahamas, where arms trafficking was a key topic.

"While the IOC has made no final decisions yet, we strongly urge it to reconsider its plans and return to the original well-proven stance supported by the international community," the Polish statement said.