South China Sea disputes
China claims most of the South China Sea, overlapping claims of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan; a 2016 arbitral ruling rejected China's broad claims. Confrontations are mostly non-lethal, involving coast guard ramming and water cannon, especially around Scarborough Shoal and Second Thomas Shoal. Code of Conduct talks have made little progress.
Conflict zones
Click a shape for details and sourcesZones, lines of contact and strike arcs are approximate and illustrative, drawn from public reporting. They are not authoritative; click a shape for its sources. Borders from Natural Earth, with Crimea shown as part of Ukraine in line with UN General Assembly resolution 68/262.
Key facts
Human cost
- 304,073 reportedUNHCR Refugee Data Finder (API, end-2025) as of 31 Dec 2025refugees, asylum-seekers, IDPs and others in need of protection from CHN, PHL; UNHCR end-2025
Parties and actors
- China (Coast Guard, Navy, maritime militia) State
- Philippines (Coast Guard, BFAR, Armed Forces) State
- United States Treaty ally of the Philippines
Parties are listed factually by name and role. Inclusion does not imply any judgement.
Negotiations
Negotiations hub- Parties
- China, ASEAN member states
- Mediators
- None reported
- Last development
- 27 Aug 2026
Negotiations on a binding Code of Conduct continue in principle, but CFR describes daily friction at sea as outpacing diplomatic progress.
CFR Global Conflict Tracker as of 27 Aug 2026Sources and further reading
- UNHCR Refugee Data Finder (API, end-2025) as of 31 Dec 2025
- CFR Global Conflict Tracker as of 27 Aug 2026
- Philstar as of 18 Sep 2026
- ABC News (Australia) as of 16 Sep 2025
- CFR Global Conflict Tracker: Territorial Disputes in the South China Sea as of 2 Oct 2026