China Claims Philippine Waters

China published a new map on Sunday that reasserts its claims over Philippine waters.

Why it matters: This unlawful claim will increase tensions in an already heated area. It illustrates China’s increasing determination to defy the United States and take what it wants.

Full story: In 2012, China took the Scarborough Shoal, a fishing area in the South China Sea that both China and the Philippines claim. It has since attacked Philippine ships—military and civilian—that enter the shoal.

• In 2016, an international court ruled that Manila controlled the waters, but Beijing rejected the ruling.
• On Friday, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed laws reaffirming Philippine control over the shoal.

China published its map in response to Marcos’s move, marking 16 baselines in the area. A nation’s territorial waters lie 12 nautical miles (13 miles) away from baselines.

Prophesied aggression: The Bible prophesied China’s aggressive rise that we see today. It warns that this will negatively affect the whole world. To learn more, read “China Is Steering the World Toward War.”