Universitas Gadjah Mada

Hanoi firmly opposes the works and demands that such activities cease immediately and not recur, Vietnam's foreign ministry said, according to Vietnam News, a state-run English news outlet.

China's most likely next move is not dramatic expansion but deeper consolidation, I made Andy Arzana, a South China Sea expert at Indonesia's Gajah Mada University, told The Epoch Times.

Manila has repeatedly accused the regime of subjecting Philippine Coast Guard ships to harassment and water cannon attacks near Scarborough Shoal in recent months.

Analysts viewed the actions as systematically transforming the South China Sea into a domain where Beijing dictates the rules.