A look at recent developments in the South
China Sea, where China is pitted against smaller neighbors in multiple territorial disputes over islands, coral reefs and lagoons.
The waters are a major shipping route for global commerce and are rich in fish and possible
Oil and gas reserves.
Indonesia’s government has condemned what it calls the “inhuman” treatment of its nationals by a Chinese fishing company that allegedly kept Indonesian fishermen as virtual slaves, leading to the deaths of at least three of them.