While the Catholic leaders stood with the Philippines’ fishing folk, they stressed that armed conflict over the hotly-contested sea was not a “moral option”.

Chinese maritime expert Wu Shicun warns the year ahead will see ‘unprecedented and disturbing’ challenges in the contested waters.

Ex-leader Rodrigo Duterte has called for the independence of his hometown island Mindanao, as his alliance with President Ferdinand Marcos disintegrates.

In this week’s issue of the Global Impact newsletter, we attempt to keep up with the ever-evolving tensions in the South China Sea following a busy time in the disputed waterway.

Japan deployed airborne early warning aircraft and at least one marine destroyer in response to Chinese vessels sailing near disputed islands in the East China Sea.

It comes amid an increased number of flare-ups with the Philippines in the hotly contested waterway.

Vietnam also has the ability to isolate maritime issues from bilateral ones, analysts say, ensuring fewer confrontations with China compared to the Philippines.

China Coast Guard says Philippine boat supplied an ‘illegal’ vessel but Manila says it has the right to resupply its troops stationed there.

The purchase of the submarines is part of the Philippines’ plan to modernise their military, at a time of growing tensions with China over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

The Western Pacific Naval Symposium will be held in Qingdao in April, the first time China has hosted for a decade.

Coastguard claims they had ‘illegally intruded’ into the waters, where China has ‘indisputable sovereignty’.

Manila says Beijing’s naval presence would not deter the Philippine military from supporting its personnel patrolling the South China Sea.

Australia’s former foreign minister Bob Carr and 49 others are supporting an appeal for easing of hostility between the two superpowers.

With Marcos Jnr and Duterte now ‘at each other’s throats’, analysts fear their feud could spill over to the economy or result in civil war.

It comes as tensions have flared recently between Manila and Beijing over a series of confrontations between vessels from both countries, in particular around the Second Thomas Shoal.

Scientists have revealed details of the Fujian’s ‘all in one’ mast – technology they say will have a big impact on warfare in the future.

President Tsai Ing-wen is facing calls to lead the opening of renovated pier in assertion of Taiwan’s claims over disputed islet, contested by Beijing, the Philippines and Vietnam.

‘Temporary special arrangements’ allowed necessary supplies to be delivered to troops on grounded ship at Second Thomas Shoal, Chinese coastguard says in WeChat post that also asserts Chinese sovereignty and maritime rights.

Relations between the Marcos and Duterte families have deteriorated as they seek to shore up their support bases ahead of key elections next year and in 2028.

China appears to be taking ‘wait and see’ approach after Manila says it will improve facilities for troops deployed on disputed reefs and islands.

The countries’ opposing ideologies amid clashing sovereignty claims could lead to years of militarisation and confrontation in the region if not contained, analysts warn.

Some 86 per cent of the 3,000 respondents in the annual Cabinet Office survey had negative feelings about China and were concerned about Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, Taiwan and the Diaoyu Islands.

Filipino fisherman Joely Saligan protested the Chinese coastguard’s aggression in the disputed South China Sea, where he said Chinese officers drove him and his men away from a disputed shoal.

Marcos said in a TV interview that his congratulatory comment to Lai Ching-te earlier this month, where he referred to him as president, was a “common courtesy”.