>>512770988
There are disputes about who owns what shoal or island in the South China Sea, as well as the associated territorial waters and EEZ. Both China and the Philippines have placed people on the shoals and islands to strengthen their claims and to preempt any attempt by the other side to place their own people there. The Chinese are interfering with Philippine resupply missions, using ramming and water cannons, in order to try to force the Philippines to withdraw from the shoals and islands.

It is said that the source of the dispute is historical claims, national pride and resource extraction rights, although I myself think that in reality the biggest cause for the dispute is the fact that the South China Sea is the main patrol area for China's strategic nuclear submarines. The SCS is the patrol area for China's strategic nuclear submarines because it is the only deep water to which China has direct unimpeded access. Therefore it is a security imperative for China to control the area.