Latest South China Sea News

Malaysia protests new Philippine maritime laws that it says infringe on its territory

Nov. 15, 2024 10:58 AM EST

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia has protested new maritime laws in the Philippines that it says encroach on its territory, a government official said Friday. Deputy Foreign Minister Mohamad Alamin said Malaysia sent a protest note on Thursday over the Philippine laws....

Chinese and Philippine forces again avoid a clash in a fiercely disputed shoal under a rare deal

Nov. 15, 2024 03:58 AM EST

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine navy transported food and other supplies to a territorial ship outpost in a shoal in the South China Sea without any confrontation with Chinese forces guarding the disputed area, officials said Friday. The Philippine delivery of supplies...

China holds combat drills at a disputed shoal west of the Philippines

Nov. 13, 2024 06:15 AM EST

BEIJING (AP) — China held sea and air combat drills Wednesday at disputed Scarborough Shoal, an uninhabited area of reefs and rocks it had seized from the Philippines in the South China Sea. China on Sunday published new baselines for the shoal including geographic coordinates. A...

Philippine defense secretary doesn't expect Trump will demand payment for protection

Nov. 12, 2024 03:19 AM EST

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said Tuesday that he didn't expect President-elect Donald Trump’s next administration would demand that the Philippines pay more for military protection because both allies faced the shared threat of China. ...

Typhoon batters storm-weary Philippines and displaces thousands more people as a new storm threatens

Nov. 11, 2024 22:56 PM EST

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Typhoon Toraji unleashed floods, knocked down trees and caused power outages in the northern Philippines before weakening into a tropical storm and blowing out to the South China Sea, officials said Tuesday as they braced for another approaching storm. ...

China delimits a contested South China Sea shoal in a dispute with Philippines

Nov. 10, 2024 05:55 AM EST

BEIJING (AP) — China has published baselines for a contested shoal in the South China Sea it had seized from the Philippines, a move that's likely to increase tensions over overlapping territorial claims. The Foreign Ministry on Sunday posted online geographic coordinates for the...

Philippine president angers China with new laws to demarcate South China Sea territories

Nov. 08, 2024 06:37 AM EST

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed two laws on Friday reaffirming the extent of his country’s maritime territories and right to resources, including in the South China Sea, angering China, which claims the hotly disputed waterway almost in its entirety....

Typhoon floods villages, rips off roofs and damages 2 domestic airports in northern Philippines

Nov. 08, 2024 04:14 AM EST

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Typhoon Yinxing battered the northern Philippines with floods and landslides before blowing away from the country on Friday, leaving two airports damaged and aggravating a calamity caused by back-to-back storms that hit in recent weeks. There were no...

Philippine forces retake an island in mock combat as China's navy watches

Nov. 07, 2024 01:16 AM EST

THITU ISLAND, South China Sea (AP) — Philippine forces practised retaking an island in the South China Sea Wednesday in the first such combat exercise in the disputed waters as Chinese navy ships kept watch from a distance, the Philippine military chief said. Gen. Romeo Brawner...

Philippine military drills to seize an island in the South China Sea

Nov. 04, 2024 07:28 AM EST

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine military opened two weeks of combat drills Monday that would include seizing an island in the disputed South China Sea and likely be frowned upon by China. More than 3,000 Filipino army, navy and air force personnel will take part in the...