Earlier this month, China declared new "baselines" around Scarborough Reef, a large coral atoll topped by a handful of rocks barely above sea level in the South China Sea.

Vietnam: 'Barbie' gets banned over map showing disputed South China Sea But that hasn’t stopped Republican lawmakers from criticizing not only the movie but also the film industry itself.

Warner Bros defends South China Sea map after Vietnam ban Studio says the ‘child-like crayon drawing’ in Barbie film was not intended to make a political statement.

Washington and Manila have signaled a Philippine fatality would trigger the partners' seven-decades-old defense pact.

Warner Bros. defended its picture Friday, saying the map is nothing more than a “child-like crayon drawing” and certainly not any kind of political statement. So what's actually going on here?

Tensions are again rising in the strategic sea, which has long been a serious flashpoint between Beijing and its competitors.

China has published baselines for a contested shoal in the South China Sea it had seized from the Philippines, a move that’s likely to increase tensions over overlapping territorial claims.

Earlier this month, China declared new "baselines" around Scarborough Reef, a large coral atoll topped by a handful of rocks barely above sea level in the South China Sea.

China asserts sovereignty over all of the waters, islands, rocks and other features in the South China Sea, as well as unspecified “historic rights” within its claimed nine-dash line.