The media have been replete with "revelations" regarding China's use of academia and academics to promote and support the government's political positions and actions in the South China Sea.
Two former Philippines officials filed a complaint with the ICC against China for “crimes against humanity”, alleging that President Xi Jinping, Foreign Minister Wang Yi and the Chinese Ambassador perpetrated environmental damage in the South China Sea.
There has recently been a resurgence of romantic proposals for a cooperative environmental protection regime in the Spratlys and the South China Sea as a confidence building precedent for cooperation on other more difficult matters.