"Ongoing" serves as a poor rebuttal to "transitory" (something can be transitory and nevertheless ongoing, and the whole point is that we know it's no longer co

"Ongoing" serves as a poor rebuttal to "transitory" (something can be transitory and nevertheless ongoing, and the whole point is that we know it's no longer considered transitory) and the others are obviously clunky when you're just trying to imply a minor point. I think you're on your own with this one and the AP did okay, even if I might have phrased it differently.