A three-way maritime standoff among China, Malaysia and Vietnam is developing in the disputed Spratly islands in the South China Sea, a Washington-based think tank reported on Saturday. The Center for Strategic and International Studies-Asia Maritime Transparency International (CSIS-AMTI), in its latest monitoring of the South China Sea dispute, said the developing standoff stemmed from Malaysia’s gas and oil exploration within its declared fields that sit on block ND1 and ND2 in the archipelago. 

Laude, J. (2020, February 24). Three-way maritime standoff emerging in Spratlys - think tank. The Philippine Star, p. 8.