SOUTH CHINA SEA WATCH: US ups pressure with overflights

FILE - In this June 28, 2014 file photo, U.S. Navy personnel raise their national flag during the bilateral maritime exercise between the Philippine Navy and U.S. Navy, dubbed Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) aboard the USS John S. McCain in the South China Sea near waters claimed by Beijing. The dispute over the strategic waterways of the South China Sea has intensified, pitting a rising China against its smaller and militarily weaker neighbors who all lay claim to a string of isles, coral reefs and lagoons known as the Spratly and the Paracel islands. The U.S. military has begun actively - and more publicly - challenging China’s sovereignty claims over half a dozen artificial islands Beijing has been rapidly constructing through massive land reclamation. (Noel Celis/Pool Photo via AP, File) FILE - In this June 28, 2014 file photo, U.S. Navy personnel raise their national flag during the bilateral maritime exercise between the Philippine Navy and U.S. Navy, dubbed Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) aboard the USS John S. McCain in the South China Sea near waters claimed by Beijing. The dispute over the strategic waterways of the South China Sea has intensified, pitting a rising China against its smaller and militarily weaker neighbors who all lay claim to a string of isles, coral reefs and lagoons known as the Spratly and the Paracel islands. The U.S. military has begun actively - and more publicly - challenging China’s sovereignty claims over half a dozen artificial islands Beijing has been rapidly constructing through massive land reclamation. (Noel Celis/Pool Photo via AP, File)

By Associated Press June 6, 2015 5 min read

The dispute over the strategic waterways of the South China Sea has intensified, pitting a rising China against its smaller and militarily weaker neighbors who all lay claim to a string of isles, coral reefs and lagoons known as the Spratly and the Paracel islands. Only about 45 of them are occupied. The area is one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, rich in fish and potentially gas and oil reserves, but it has now emerged as a possible flashpoint involving world powers and regional claimants.

A look at some of the most recent key developments:

___

US RATCHETS UP PRESSURE ON CHINA

The U.S. military has begun actively – and more publicly – challenging China’s sovereignty claims over half a dozen artificial islands Beijing has been rapidly constructing through massive land reclamation.