The Spratly Islands are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea. Composed of islands, islets, cays, and more than 100 reefs, sometimes grouped in submerged old atolls, the archipelago lies off the coasts of the Philippines, Malaysia, and southern Vietnam. Named after the 19th-century British whaling captain Richard Spratly who sighted Spratly Island in 1843, the islands contain less than 200 ha of naturally occurring land area that is spread over hundreds of square km of the South China Sea.
The Philippines is making a bold military move in the South China Sea, announcing new naval bases in Subic Bay, Mindanao, and..
Tensions surged near Sandy Cay on May 22 as Chinese Coast Guard vessels sideswiped and blasted Philippine research ships with water..