After an international tribunal in The Hague ruled emphatically against China in a maritime dispute with the Philippines, many Chinese state media outlets responded on Wednesday by publishing a map. It showed the South China Sea, with most of the waters encircled with the "nine-dash line" that has long represented China's claims in the strategic waterway. At its most basic level, this is a contest between China and several Southeast Asian nations over territorial control in the South China Sea, which includes some of the most strategically important maritime territory on earth.

Explaining the PH-China sea dispute. (2016 July 16). Philippine Daily Inquirer, pp. A1, A15.