south china sea

China has provoked international alarm by massing ships in the South China Sea near a reef claimed by both China and the Philippines. Manila protested, calling for the flotilla's immediate withdrawal.

Most of the operation's activity focused on Chinese interests in the South China Sea but also included some content about U.S. politics.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper and his Chinese counterpart lectured one another in a 90-minute call as the highest level U.S. delegation in four decades plans a provocative visit to Taiwan.

China claims sovereignty over the vast majority of the economically important body of water, and in recent years, it has built artificial islands to bolster those claims.

Prime Minister Hun Sen called the report, which appeared Sunday in The Wall Street Journal, "made up news." The report cited unnamed U.S. officials.

China's leader seeks to bring an old U.S. ally into his sphere. But the Philipine people are sceptical that China will deliver on its promise of billions of dollars in aid.

The British Navy only just began rolling out the largest warship it has ever built, but it already has an eventual mission in mind for the aircraft carrier and its sister ship: the South China Sea.

In the past week, China has pressed its territorial claims in the South and East China seas, opening a cinema on a disputed island and intercepting a U.S. surveillance plane in an "unsafe" encounter.