It communicates with the East China Sea via the Taiwan Strait, the Philippine Sea via the Luzon Strait, the Sulu Sea via the straits around Palawan, and the Java Sea via the Karimata and Bangka Straits. The Gulf of Thailand and the Gulf of Tonkin are part of the South China Sea.

4 days ago · South China Sea, arm of the western Pacific Ocean that borders the Southeast Asian mainland. It is bounded on the northeast by the Taiwan Strait (by which it is connected to the East China Sea); on the east by Taiwan and the Philippines; on the southeast and south by Borneo, the southern limit of

Sep 17, 2024 · Explore how China’s claims over the South China Sea have antagonized competing countries and track the latest developments with CFR's Global Conflict Tracker.

Jul 7, 2023 · Overlapping claims in the South China Sea threaten to turn the region into a flashpoint of global concern.

territorial disputes in the South China Sea, series of conflicts arising from the overlapping territorial claims of several countries that border the South China Sea. In recent decades China has been widely seen as the conflicts’ primary driver.

1 day ago · That’s especially true of contested claims in the South China Sea, a domain of growing military rivalry that encompasses a variety of issues, including maritime law, crowded sea lanes, drilling for hydrocarbon resources, fisheries, large new Chinese “reef bases” and even the deployment of nuclear weapons.

Map of the nine-dash line and EEZs Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, the People's Republic of China (PRC), Taiwan (Republic of China/ROC), and Vietnam have conflicting island and maritime claims in the South China Sea.

4 days ago · Andrew Chubb examines whether a transactional U.S. foreign policy leaves countries vulnerable to Chinese pressure in the South China Sea.

Mar 11, 2025 · While diplomatic efforts and international law seek to maintain order, regional stability seems uncertain. The South China Sea Dispute has very old roots: ancient Chinese dynasties claimed sovereignty over most of the sea, asserting historical rights based on ancient maps and records.

Mar 28, 2025 · It's Beijing's latest move to assert sovereignty over the hotly disputed atoll in the South China Sea, satellite images obtained by Reuters showed.