The Latest Breaking News from the South China Sea

HANOI: Vietnam has banned Warner Bros' highly-anticipated film "Barbie" from domestic distribution over a scene featuring a map that shows China's unilaterally claimed territory in the South China Sea, state media reported on Monday.

As negotiations continue between China and the ASEAN bloc for a code of conduct in the South China Sea — which diplomatic sources described as a “complex exercise” involving 11 countries — India called for adherence to the 2016 arbitration decision in favour of the Philippines, which has been rejected…

BEIJING: China's largest naval training ship sailed for the Philippines on Friday, its last stop of a regional "friendly" tour, amid growing unease over Chinese maritime activities in the South China Sea.

Small boats of armed men in grey camouflage fatigues and balaclavas speed towards a Philippine ship before climbing aboard and scanning the deck with small rifles at the ready.

When a Chinese warship came within 150 yards of a U.S. destroyer in the Taiwan Strait on Saturday and forced it to slow down, it was the second time in a matter of days in which Chinese and U.S. military personnel came close to a major incident.

A Chinese research ship and its escort, which operated for nearly a month in Vietnam's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea, left those waters on Monday night, vessel-tracking experts said, just after high-level U.S.-China talks.

Tensions have again been rising between Beijing and Washington, prompting the prime minister to use his keynote address at a peak regional security summit to call for improved dialogue between the two powers as a precondition for peace.

Drills come as US and China ramp up military diplomacy in Asia Pacific, staging more frequent war games with partners.

China is expanding its military outreach to Southeast Asian countries.