According to the UN, about a third of global trade passes through the South China Sea, including crucial energy supplies for US allies Japan and South Korea. The sea also includes oil and natural gas reserves as well as valuable fishing grounds, corals and minerals.
China claims a large part of the South China Sea. In its southern part, these claims come into conflict with those of the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei and in its northern part with those of Taiwan. And the claims of some of these Southeast Asian countries also overlap.
The United States has not supported any of these claims, insisting that disputes be resolved peacefully and based on international law. The United States insists on freedom of navigation in these disputed waters and has repeatedly sailed warships there to assert that right.
The United States also committed under a 1951 mutual defense treaty with the Philippines to respond if its armed forces, ships or aircraft were attacked.
washingtonpost
