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From 2012 to 2021, Beijing steadily advanced its claim to “historic rights” in most of the waters, seabed, and airspace of the South China Sea, using coercion and threats of force to do so. But since 2022, the momentum has shifted. Southeast Asian claimants have stopped giving ground.
The most well-reported South China Sea story of 2023 was the ongoing crisis around Second Thomas Shoal where Manila is determined to repair the BRP Sierra Madre. Every month, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has escorted civilian ships to resupply…