BANGKOK (AP) — A look at recent developments in the South China Sea, where China is pitted against smaller neighbors in multiple disputes over islands, coral reefs and lagoons in waters crucial for global commerce and rich in fish and potential oil and gas reserves:
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EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a weekly look at the latest key developments in the South China Sea, home to several territorial conflicts that have raised tensions in the region.
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PHILIPPINES DOESN'T WANT TO BE USED FOR U.S. FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION MISSIONS
The Philippines has again thumbed its nose at the U.S., its longtime defense ally, saying it won't be used as a springboard for U.S. ships and planes conducting operations that challenge China in the South China Sea.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that the Philippines will not allow its territory to be used as a staging ground for U.S. patrols — a possible departure from the current policy that allows U.S. aircraft, ships and submarines access to designated Philippine military bases under a 2014 defense agreement.
Lorenzana said U.S. ships and planes can use Guam or Okinawa in Japan for South China Sea missions. But he said they can still refuel and resupply in the Philippines after conducting such maneuvers, not before.
State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said she could not comment on Lorenzana's remarks as she hadn't seen them, but added: "Our adherence to freedom of navigation is well known. You know, we will fly, we will sail anywhere within international waters and we will continue that."
Lt. Gen. Stephen Lanza, the commander of the U.S. Army's I Corps who leads international military exercises in the Pacific, said that the U.S. military was prepared to change next year's joint exercises with the Philippines to humanitarian and disaster relief training.
"If we change the training, we would probably look at putting a different force and a different capability in the Philippines versus the initial one that had been planned to go there," he told Voice of America, referring to the initial focus on the Philippines' territorial defense.
President Rodrigo Duterte has reached out to China to try to smooth over the territorial disputes. He also said he wants to scale back the Philippines' military engagements with the U.S., including scuttling a plan to carry out joint patrols with the U.S. Navy in the disputed waters, which he said China opposes.
But Manila still continues to rely on Washington. On Friday, the Philippine navy took delivery of a third frigate decommissioned from the U.S. Coast Guard.
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US, CHINA REACT TO VIETNAM'S REPORTED ISLAND DREDGING
The United States has called on Vietnam and other claimants to refrain from reclamation and militarization activities in contested South China Sea waters following reports that Hanoi has carried out dredging on one of the features it occupies in the Spratlys.
State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters that the U.S. is aware of the reports.
"We have consistently warned that reclamation and militarization in contested areas of the South China Sea will risk driving a destabilizing and escalatory trend. We encourage all claimants to take steps to lower tensions and peacefully resolve differences," she said.
Vietnam's government has not commented on satellite imagery purportedly showing dredging activities inside a channel on Ladd Reef, about 15 nautical miles (28 kilometers) west of Spratly Island where Hanoi recently began extending a runway and building hangers. It wasn't clear if the latest activity was meant as repair or construction work.
Ladd Reef, which is submerged at high tide, has a lighthouse, which also serves as quarters for Vietnamese troops.
China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang urged Vietnam to "respect China's sovereignty and rights, stop illegal invasion and construction activities, and not to take actions that could complicate the situation."
He repeated Friday that China has "indisputable sovereignty" over the South China Sea.
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CHINA WARNS BRITAIN AGAINST SOUTH CHINA SEA PATROLS
China has reacted angrily to Britain's announcement that its four Typhoon fighter jets on a training visit to Japan will patrol the skies over the East and South China sea, where Beijing is embroiled in territorial disputes with neighbors.
The British ambassador in Washington, Kim Darroch, also said last week that his government plans to conduct freedom of navigation operations involving its newest aircraft carrier, the HMS Queen Elizabeth, when it becomes operational in 2020. He said that Britain "absolutely shares" the U.S. objective to protect freedom of navigation in what it considers international waters despite China's claiming virtually the entire South China Sea as its territory.
China's state-run Xinhua News Agency, in an opinion piece, said Darroch was perhaps trying to impress his Japanese colleague and that his remarks create the impression that London may soon deviate from "a largely aloof attitude" toward the South China Sea issue and start to meddle like the U.S. and Japan.
"Should a British warplane embark on a so-called 'freedom of navigation' mission in the South China Sea, it would only serve to further complicate the issue and weigh on thriving China-Britain ties," Xinhua said.
It says China has never denied any legitimate passage of ships or planes in the area.
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CHINA ADDS SECOND CRUISE IN THE PARACELS
China is adding a second cruise ship to the Paracel Islands, a tropical paradise of pristine beaches and little else.
The new cruise ship called Nanhai Zhi Meng will start its maiden four-day voyage in late December from Sanya, a port on southern Hainan Island, to Yinyu, Quanfu and Yagong islands in the Paracels, which are also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
The first cruise was launched in April 2013 and so far has attracted 23,000 Chinese tourists.
The tours only serve islands with no military installations and are only open to Chinese nationals. Unlike the largest island in the Paracels, Woody Island, which is also an administrative center founded in 2012, the coral reefs on the cruise tour have no accommodation or any significant infrastructure.
Prices range from $580 to $1,450 per person.
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Associated Press writer Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, and Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this report.
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