Cartographic expansionism describes the gray zone tactic in which an aggressor nation manipulates maps to mark out, advance and expand its vast territorial and maritime claims.

Satellite images show how China is slowly stealing Iroquois Reef from the Philippines.

SeaLight Director Ray Powell and his co-host, former senior U.S. diplomat Jim Carouso discuss his week's upcoming U.S.-Japan-Philippines trilateral leaders summit with expert guests Chris Johnstone and Dindo Manhit.

A quick-reference guide to South China Sea hotspots.

SeaLight Director Ray Powell announces a new podcast with former diplomat Jim Carouso in which they unpack current Indo-Pacific events through the practical lens of, "Why should we care?"

“Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.” -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Satellite imagery from Planet Labs shows 15 People's Republic of China (PRC) vessels crowding a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ship near the Philippine outpost at Thitu Island on 21 March 2024. Meanwhile a second PCG ship's patrol near Sabina Shoal has prompted the PRC to reinforce its Mischief Reef maritime militia fleet. UPDATE: In a separate report, state-controlled PRC media claimed that the China Coast Guard "thwarted" 34 Filipino nationals (likely environmental impact researchers) at Sandy Cay near Thitu Island.

Perry World House's Thomas Shattuck and Robin Garcia are out with an important new white paper which recommends the public release of visual information to counter China's coercive activities, using the Philippines and Taiwan as examples. As the champions of "assertive transparency", SeaLight enthusiastically welcomes this timely new scholarship!

As of 4 March 2024, 21 vessels--likely belonging to China's People's Armed Forces Maritime Militia (PAFMM)--were "rafted" together at Sabina Shoal within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone, a mere 75 nautical miles from the coast of Palawan. Another 5 were spotted just to their northwest on 6 March.

While other countries treat maritime incidents as crises to be deescalated, Beijing seizes upon them as pretext for calculated escalations, by which it means to reset the board in its favor.

The clear and present maritime threat from China in the South China Sea is compelling the Philippines to step up its newly-announced defense strategy and modernization of its arsenal.

An emerging quadrilateral group, between the U.S., Japan, Australia and the Philippines, has become the core of Washington's foreign security policy in the Indo-Pacific, quickly overtaking the Quad in priority, analysts say.

The possibility that China will abandon hope of peacefully reuniting with Taiwan is still "more dangerous" to regional and global peace than the continued escalation of tensions in the South China Sea, the head of a US-based maritime transparency project said Monday.

The Albanese government has lodged a protest after a Chinese fighter jet dropped flares near a navy helicopter, forcing it to take evasive action in Beijing’s latest confrontation with Australian military personnel.

With three of its warships now reaching Singapore, India is all set to conduct naval exercises with `friendly’ countries in the contentious South China Sea, where a belligerent Beijing is locked in territorial disputes with its neighbours.

China's intrusive and expansionist claims in the Indo-Pacific are "illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive," the new commander of the Indo-Pacific Command said Friday at a change of command ceremony in Hawaii.

The recent mooring of Chinese warships at Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base marked the unofficial inauguration of China’s first overseas naval post in the Indo-Pacific region and only its second overall. These latest deployments, which demand a robust American government response, signal how China plans to leverage its expanding global military footprint to thwart U.S. forces from intervening in a Taiwan crisis.

Four-way meeting follows recent South China Sea aggression by China.

A recent investigation has revealed evidence that China's distant-water fishing fleet, the world's biggest in scale, commits environmental and labor abuses in the southwest Indian Ocean off the coast of East Africa.

The BBC was onboard the Philippines coast guard vessel BRP Bagacay when it was accosted by Chinese vessels on Tuesday.