Philippines challenges China's sea claims.

A Chinese coast guard ship blocked a Philippine patrol vessel near the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, causing a near-collision in the latest act of Beijing’s aggression in the strategic waterway. The Philippine coast guard had invited a small group of journalists to join the 1,670-kilometer patrol for the first time as part of a new Philippine strategy aimed at exposing China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the South China Sea, where an estimated $5 trillion in global trade transits each year.