About 250 Filipinos live on Thitu Island, the largest and most inhabited island of the Spratlys, in the South China Sea. But Chinese ships are never far away.

A Chinese ship has run aground in stormy weather in shallow waters off a Philippines-occupied island in the disputed South China Sea, prompting Filipino forces to go on alert.

A Chinese coast guard vessel passes by a Philippine coast guard ship near the Philippine-occupied Thitu island, locally called Pag-asa island, on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023 at the disputed South China Sea.

Thitu Island, located near Mischief Reef—one of China’s main military outposts in the Spratlys—has become a focal point in the Philippines’ defense strategy.

From the remote speck of land they call home, the residents of Thitu Island have watched China’s presence creep closer, and grow more assertive, over the past decade On a Tiny Island, 250 People ...

Enter Thitu — an island that the Philippines calls Pag-asa, while China calls it Zhongye.It is the only civilian-inhabited island of the Spratlys, and its approximately 250 full-time residents ...

About 250 Filipinos live on Thitu Island, the largest and most inhabited island of the Spratlys, in the South China Sea. But Chinese ships are never far away.

Enter Thitu — an island that the Philippines calls Pag-asa, while China calls it Zhongye. It is the only civilian-inhabited island of the Spratlys, and its approximately 250 full-time residents see ...