Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. labeled China a regional troublemaker on October 14, 2026, citing Chinese interference in the South Pacific and a June long-range ballistic missile test.

The overlapping territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea, principally between China and Southeast Asian states including the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia, encompassing disputed islands, reefs and shoals, and the naval, coastguard and diplomatic confrontations arising from them.