South China Sea

The U.S. Navy says a nuclear-powered submarine that struck an unknown underwater object in the South China Sea and was damaged has arrived in port at Guam. The Navy says the Bremerton-based USS Connecticut was conducting routine operations when the incident happened on Oct. 2.

In an intercept that the U.S. Air Force described as "unprofessional," a pair of Chinese fighter jets reportedly came within 150 feet of the American plane over the East China Sea on Wednesday.

The not-yet-named carrier is the second in China's arsenal. It took less than four years to build.

The military should raise the Philippines' flag on islands it claims, President Rodrigo Duterte said, adding that he might do that himself on one island this summer.

Rex Tillerson, Trump's pick for secretary of state, said this week China would not "be allowed" to access islands in the South China Sea. China's official response has been muted. The press, less so.

Even as China presses ahead with a military buildup in the South China Sea, the U.S. invited it to take part in the world's largest naval exercise at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

Beijing rejects the ruling that China's claims are illegal. U.S.-China friction could grow over the Scarborough Shoal, also claimed by the Philippines.

China has built artificial islands in the disputed waters, which it claims as its own. Now a tribunal in The Hague has ruled those claims invalid.

China and several regional neighbors are locked in a growing dispute over the status of islands throughout the South China Sea. Here's a guide to what's at stake.