The South China Sea dispute explained

China and several of its neighbours have been involved in a decades-long dispute over who controls the South China Sea. China claims most of the sea as its territory, but the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan say parts of the sea belong to them. Tensions have risen over the years and resulted in several confrontations as well as US involvement. The South China Morning Post looks at the origins of the dispute, what these countries are fighting over and what they’re doing to assert their territorial claims.<br />