Conflicts and disputes in Asia: the Line of Actual Control and the Second Thomas Shoal.

In the remote and sparsely populated areas along the 3,500-km-long border between India and China, known as the Line of Actual Control, both countries have stationed their troops for a long time. This border is often unmarked and is a part of the ongoing Sino-Indian dispute. Soldiers from both sides leave behind empty cigarette packets and beer cans as a way to mark their territorial claims. In recent years, there have been occasional confrontations escalating to skirmishes, with soldiers resorting to simple weapons like sticks and batons, as a 1996 agreement prohibits the use of firearms and ammunition on the border. Both countries are also investing in the development of border villages. For instance, India plans to invest $600 million over the next decade to develop around 3,000 villages.

Tensions between China and the Philippines have heightened significantly following a clash between sailors in the South China Sea in the latter part of June this year. Videos released by the Philippine military show Chinese coast guards ramming Philippine navy boats, boarding them, and confiscating the Filipinos’ weapons. The Chinese coast guards were armed with swords, spears and knives. Several Filipinos sustained injuries in the incident. Beijing justified their actions as “necessary measures” to safeguard their sovereignty, such as interceptions and boarding inspections. This clash was the latest in a series of confrontations between Chinese and Filipino vessels off Second Thomas Shoal, where a small Filipino garrison is stationed on an old warship, the BRP Sierra Madre, intentionally beached.