[EXPLAINER] South China Sea: Why are China and Philippines tensions heating up?

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article. WATER CANNON. China uses water cannon again on Filipino ships in the West Philippine Sea, the Philippine Coast Guard Reported on Saturday, December 9, 2023. Tension in the South China Sea will be a focus of the trilateral meeting among US President Joe Biden, Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Washington MANILA, Philippines - An escalating diplomatic row and recent maritime run-ins between China and the Philippines, a US treaty ally, have made the highly strategic South…