CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -China and the Philippines hinted on Wednesday that the two maritime neighbors may resume joint energy exploration in the disputed South China Sea. The indication came after China’s President Xi Jinping hosted his Philippine counterpart Ferdinand Marcos Jr .

Detailed explanation-2: -Territorial disputes in the South China Sea involve conflicting island and maritime claims in the region by several sovereign states, namely Brunei, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Taiwan (Republic of China/ROC), Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam.

Detailed explanation-3: -The conflict between China and the Philippines in the Western Philippine Sea (a.k.a. the South China Sea) is the result of years of territorial dispute over the Spratly Islands – a group of 7, 500 islands and reefs that multiple countries have claimed as their own.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Origin of the Conflict The main conflict in the South China Sea dates back to 1279, when China drew a territorial map of its influence that included the entire South China Sea. Since then, control over the region has changed hands between regional powers and, later, colonial states.

Detailed explanation-5: -The South China Sea holds an estimated 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 11 billion barrels of oil in proved and probable reserves, with much more potentially undiscovered.