South China Sea

Coverage volume, last 90 days

Coverage tone, last 90 days

Emotional signature

Anxiety-related words per 1,000 words of matching English-language coverage (LIWC dictionaries via GDELT's GCAM). Latest day: 0.7 anxiety · 15 anger · 11 positive emotion. Tone says whether coverage reads negative; these say what kind of negative.

Where this coverage comes from

Share of matching coverage, from GDELT breakdowns (as of 2026-08-19). Tone split: 81% of articles read distinctly negative, 0% distinctly positive.

In focus by country

• China (195)
• Philippines (148)
• Brunei (122)
• United States (48)
• Vietnam (33)
• Japan (33)
• Taiwan (18)

Countries where South China Sea coverage concentrates — each links to the stories and headlines for that intersection.

Reader interest (Wikipedia)

Daily human pageviews of the topic's English Wikipedia article (Wikimedia Analytics). Coverage measures what the press supplies; this measures what readers seek out. Week-over-week: coverage +216.7%, reader interest -8.0% — supply and demand are diverging.

Top recent articles

1. Philippines bets on classrooms to strengthen South China Sea claims — rfa.org
2. US Navy destroyer spent 4 days without power in South China Sea — navytimes.com
3. US Navy destroyer spent 4 days without power in South China Sea — defensenews.com
4. US Navy destroyer spent 4 days without power in South China Sea — militarytimes.com
5. US Navy ship without power for 4 days in South China Sea — abc7.com
6. Navy Vessel Spent Four Days Without Power In South China Sea — military.com
7. US Navy ship without power for 4 days in South China Sea — abc7news.com
8. China Completes First Stage of Work at Disputed South China Sea Reef, Images Show — gcaptain.com
9. China Completes 1st Stage of Work at Disputed South China Sea Reef, Images Show — chronicle.lu
10. China completes first stage of work at disputed South China Sea reef — freemalaysiatoday.com
11. China completes first stage of work at disputed South China Sea reef, images show — bworldonline.com
12. China completes first stage of work at disputed South China Sea reef , images show — asiaone.com
13. China completes first stage of work at disputed South China Sea reef, images show — asiaone.com
14. Is South China Sea warship breakdown a sign US is 'taxing reserve capacity'? — scmp.com
15. 新台风 沙德尔 生成 ， 最新路径预测 — baijiahao.baidu.com
16. China's Robotic Fortresses Could Rewrite South China Sea Defence – Sri Lanka Guardian — slguardian.org
17. 开渔季首批海鲜抵穗 ， 花都市民争尝阳江头网海鲜 — news.ycwb.com
18. 94W逼近台灣 ！ 今晚再變天 「 這2天 」 最劇烈 雨下最猛地區曝光 | 生活 | 三立新聞網 SETN . COM — setn.com
19. 爆料 ： 美军驱逐舰南海趴窝4天 ， 吃饭上厕所都成问题 _ 军事频道 _ 中华网 — military.china.com
20. 马来西亚总理最新涉华表态 坚定立场拒绝双标 _ 军事频道 _ 中华网 — military.china.com
21. Chinese coastguard proposes turning South China Sea isles into robotic fortress — scmp.com
22. 热带低压或将生成 ！ 未来三天 ， 海南将迎较强降雨 - 南海网 — hinews.cn
23. Áp thấp nhiệt đới trên Biển Đông đang mạnh lên , gây mưa lớn — thanhnien.vn
24. Tin bão mới nhất 19 / 8 : Áp thấp nhiệt đới hướng về đảo Hải Nam — vnexpress.net
25. 低壓帶雨期來了 北宜先有大雨 周四起中南部防豪大雨 — n.yam.com
26. Thời tiết ngày 19 / 8 : Áp thấp nhiệt đới gây biển động , Bắc Bộ mưa to — baotintuc.vn
27. Massive risk in South China Sea exposed after four-day power loss on US Navy destroyer — yahoo.com
28. Navy Ship Lost Power For Four Days, Had To Be Towed Out Of South China Sea — iheart.com
29. Navy ship without power for 4 days in South China Sea — willmarradio.com
30. Massive risk in South China Sea exposed after four-day power loss on US Navy destroyer — foxwilmington.com
31. Navy ship without power for 4 days in South China Sea — kjlhradio.com
32. Navy Ship Lost Power For Four Days , Had To Be Towed Out Of South China Sea — koacolorado.iheart.com
33. Navy Ship Lost Power For Four Days , Had To Be Towed Out Of South China Sea — jetradio1400.iheart.com
34. Navy Ship Lost Power For Four Days , Had To Be Towed Out Of South China Sea — kste.iheart.com
35. Navy Ship Lost Power For Four Days , Had To Be Towed Out Of South China Sea — wrak.iheart.com
36. Navy Ship Lost Power For Four Days , Had To Be Towed Out Of South China Sea — 1061fmtalk.iheart.com
37. Navy Ship Lost Power For Four Days , Had To Be Towed Out Of South China Sea — kprcradio.iheart.com
38. Navy Ship Lost Power For Four Days , Had To Be Towed Out Of South China Sea — wtam.iheart.com
39. Navy Ship Lost Power For Four Days , Had To Be Towed Out Of South China Sea — kfyr.iheart.com
40. Navy Ship Lost Power For Four Days , Had To Be Towed Out Of South China Sea — wham1180.iheart.com

Headlines link to the original publishers. Geotone indexes coverage metadata only and never reproduces article text.

Related fact-checks

• At least 120 countries support China's claims to the West Philippine Sea as opposed to those for the Philippines with only 13.
  FalseVERA Files · 2026-07-30
• The Philippines' northernmost Batanes Islands belong to China through Taiwan.
  FalseVERA Files · 2026-07-13
• Kiko Barzaga said the West Philippine Sea does not exist and lacks legal basis under international law.
  FalseVERA Files · 2026-07-01
• There is no legal basis in international law for the Philippines’ claim to the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
  FalseRappler · 2026-06-30
• A majority of Filipinos "support going to war with allies to defend the [West Philippine Sea] against China."
  MisleadingVERA Files · 2026-06-18

Via the Google Fact Check Tools API; ratings are the fact-checkers' own.

Frequently asked questions

How much news coverage is South China Sea receiving right now?

As of August 19, 2026, coverage matching this topic makes up 0.018% of all articles GDELT monitors worldwide, roughly 58 articles per day.

Is media coverage of South China Sea increasing or decreasing?

Coverage is up 216.7% week-over-week (the mean of the latest 7 days compared with the 7 days before).

What is the tone of news coverage about South China Sea?

The average GDELT tone of matching coverage is -4.73, which reads as negative. Tone typically ranges from about -10 (very negative) to +10 (very positive).

How are these numbers measured?

Geotone processes the GDELT Project's 15-minute data files every two hours, matching this topic's fixed query against article titles across 65+ languages and aggregating counts and tone by UTC day. Coverage volume is the share of all GDELT-monitored articles matching the topic query; tone is the mean document tone. Full details are on the methodology page.