Troubled Waters:
The South China Sea

On the fifth anniversary of the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s ruling, the lawyer who advised the Philippine government against China’s excessive claims in the South China Sea suggests there should be renewed international efforts and a “new legal case.” But countries in the region are treading carefully.

The statement was dramatic, like a diplomatic line drawn in the sand. On July 13, the United States declared most of China’s maritime claims in the South China Sea to be “completely unlawful,” and its pressure on Southeast Asian nations a “campaign of bullying.”

As tensions mount in the South China Sea, China has named and claimed 80 obscure geographical features in those contested waters as it steps up its aggressive campaign to mark out territory and push out other claimants.

It was the kind of standoff at sea that would usually slip under the radar: obscure vessels of rival nations vying for position in disputed waters, far from public view.

Cutting edge technology from the United States and other foreign countries is helping China assert its sweeping maritime and territorial claims in the contested South China Sea, a Radio Free Asia investigation has found.