FILE - Philippine troops watch a Philippine coast guard ship as they secure an area at the Philippine-occupied Thitu island, locally called Pag-asa island, on Dec. 1, 2023, at the disputed South China Sea. China has been at odds with many other countries in the Asia-Pacific for years over its sweeping maritime claims, including almost all of the South China Sea, a strategic and resource-rich waterway around which Beijing has drawn a 10-dash-line on official maps to delineate what it says it its territory. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)