Spratly Islands

Activists in Hanoi chanted anti-China slogans and laid flowers Thursday at a protest marking the anniversary of a battle over the contested Spratly Islands in which 64 Vietnamese soldiers died.

Vietnamese immigration officers said Tuesday they were refusing to stamp entry visas into controversial new Chinese passports which feature a map of Beijing's claim to almost all of the South China Sea.

China is to ramp up development on a disputed South China Sea island, a local government chief has said, in a move likely to stoke a growing territorial row with its neighbours.

When gun-toting Chinese guards spotted Tran Hien's unarmed wooden fishing boat in disputed waters, they seized his vessel, detained his crew and threw him in jail.

When gun-toting Chinese guards spotted Tran Hien's unarmed wooden fishing boat in disputed waters, they seized his vessel, detained his crew and threw him in jail.

China's newest city might appear to be a tranquil outpost in the South China Sea, but the beaches and palm trees of Sansha are at the heart of a growing territorial dispute.

China has appointed military officers at a newly-established garrison in the South China Sea, state media reported Friday, the country's latest step to bolster claims to disputed islands in the area.

Vietnam and the Philippines on Tuesday lashed out at China's moves to establish a military garrison in the South China Sea, amid escalating tensions in the disputed waters.

Beijing will establish a military garrison on a group of disputed islands in the South China Sea, China's defence ministry said Monday, a move likely to provoke further tensions with its neighbours.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino will deliver his annual "state of the nation" speech to Congress on Monday, with legislators hoping he will tackle an escalating South China Sea dispute.

President Benigno Aquino Tuesday thanked China for its help to finish a major Philippine water project, amid frayed relations between the two countries over disputed territory in the South China Sea.

A group of Taiwanese academics has visited the contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, defence officials said on Monday, amid continued tensions over rival claims to the area.

A big fleet of Chinese fishing vessels arrived at the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea on Sunday, state media said, amid tensions with its neighbours over rival claims to the area.

The Philippines said Sunday it would not lodge a diplomatic protest after China extricated a naval frigate from a disputed South China Sea shoal where it had been stranded for four days.

A Chinese naval frigate that ran aground close to Philippine shores while patrolling disputed waters in the South China Sea was refloated on Sunday, the Chinese embassy said.

A Philippine military aircraft confirmed Saturday that a Chinese naval frigate remains stranded in disputed waters of the South China Sea, a military spokesman said.

A Chinese naval frigate has run aground while patrolling disputed waters in the South China Sea, the defence ministry said Friday, amid tensions with the Philippines over territorial claims.

China said it summoned Vietnam's ambassador Thursday and strongly protested a law adopted by the Vietnamese parliament that places the disputed Spratly and Paracel islands under Hanoi's sovereignty.

Vietnam will open up three new areas to American teams searching for missing war-time soldiers, its defence chief announced on Monday during landmark talks with his US counterpart Leon Panetta.

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Sunday a former port used by US forces in the Vietnam War could play a pivotal role in the American military's shift towards the Asia-Pacific.