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: 0.3 anxiety · 6.6 anger · 15.9 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 2026-10-03). Tone split: 0% of articles read distinctly negative, 0% distinctly positive.

In focus by country

• China (240)
• Philippines (181)
• Brunei (150)
• United States (53)
• Vietnam (39)
• Japan (36)
• Taiwan (33)

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 +1.3%, reader interest -6.0%.

Top recent articles

1. China's Antelope Reef Runway Project Advances, Raising Strategic Stakes in South China Sea – Sri Lanka Guardian — slguardian.org
2. A halted resupply run by Philippines, a grounded warship and the decades-old dispute over the South China Sea — hindustantimes.com
3. china antelope reef military base south china sea india strategic threat — prabhasakshi.com
4. Indonesia urges habit of cooperation to keep South China Sea peace — antaranews.com
5. China advances runway construction on Antelope Reef South China Sea — straitstimes.com
6. 路透曝大陸加速建設羚羊礁機場 為十年來在南海最重大軍事擴張 | 兩岸要聞 | 兩岸 — udn.com
7. Chinese work gathering pace on Antelope Reef in South China Sea, latest satellite images show — indiatimes.com
8. Mỹ : Trực thăng y tế rơi ngoài khơi , 2 người thiệt mạng — vietgiaitri.com
9. 陸文浩觀點 ： 共軍提早台海聯訓 ， 迎紐軍艦隊入甕 ？ | 陸文浩 | 評論 — storm.mg
10. Filipinler , Batanes açıklarında Çin gemisine gemi ve uçak görevlendirdi — haberler.com
11. 国庆首日三亚水上旅游旅客人数4 . 5万人次 - 南海网 — hinews.cn
12. 2026年海南省青少年乒乓球锦标赛在屯昌正式开赛 - 南海网 — hinews.cn
13. 组图 | 琼中百花岭景区焕彩迎国庆 多重特色玩法全新上线 - 南海网 — hinews.cn
14. 三亚国庆推出宠粉暖客专属惊喜 - 南海网 — hinews.cn
15. Tháng 10 dự báo mưa lớn và thời tiết nguy hiểm tại Trung Bộ — kienthuc.net.vn
16. Thời tiết Nam Bộ tháng 10 diễn biến đáng chú ý , có thể xuất hiện 2 đợt mưa lớn — techz.vn
17. Philippines sends largest ship , aircraft to drive away Chinese vessel in waters near Taiwan — asiaone.com
18. Dọn gần 100 tấn rác trên bãi biển Đà Nẵng — tienphong.vn
19. 海味漁鮮漫遊趣 ！ 臺南農遊軸帶串聯七股 、 北門海線 「 鮮 」 玩法 — n.yam.com
20. 国旗映碧海 忠诚守海疆 三沙各岛礁举行国庆升旗仪式 - 南海网 — hinews.cn
21. 外媒曝 「 賴清德連任 」 北京恐更傾向動武 總統府 ： 不因威脅放棄民主 - 政治 — news.ltn.com.tw
22. Philippines sends largest ship , aircraft to drive away Chinese vessel - Asia & Pacific — thejakartapost.com
23. 万人赴约同唱 《 歌唱祖国 》 琼海嘉积镇这场活动超燃 - 南海网 — hinews.cn
24. 海南自贸港国门口岸首次举行国庆升国旗仪式 - 南海网 — hinews.cn
25. 海保人寿 ： 遇到保险问题怎么办 ？ 这份投诉维权指南请收好 - 南海网 — hinews.cn
26. 第十二届 美兰杯 海南八音大赛海口落幕 - 南海网 — hinews.cn
27. Deep freeze — global.chinadaily.com.cn
28. Trust that the deep blue will meet you halfway — global.chinadaily.com.cn
29. Làm sâu sắc quan hệ đối tác toàn diện Việt Nam - Thụy Sĩ — baomoi.com
30. Mưa lớn dồn dập ở Nam Bộ có dấu hiệu khác thường , trái quy luật — baomoi.com
31. 视频丨现场画面 ！ 中国海警常态化执法巡查仁爱礁 、 仙宾礁附近海域 — baijiahao.baidu.com
32. 南海影像日志 · 我在现场丨逐浪万里 戍守南疆碧海 — baijiahao.baidu.com
33. China launches deep-sea robot for South China Sea exploration — bruneinews.net
34. 海南推出超百项文旅活动 迎接八方游客 - 南海网 — hinews.cn
35. 省七届人大常委会第二十六次会议闭幕 冯飞出席 - 南海网 — hinews.cn
36. 鸿丰保理联合海南中行创新模式为先导稀材融资2亿元 - 南海网 — hinews.cn
37. 在海南看电影 ， 优惠自己找上门 ！ 政府消费券不用领 ， 支付直接减 - 南海网 — hinews.cn
38. 臺南時令小旅行 ！ 農遊軸帶串聯七股北門海味漁鮮漫遊趣 — n.yam.com
39. Deep freeze — usa.chinadaily.com.cn
40. Deep freeze — europe.chinadaily.com.cn

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 October 3, 2026, coverage matching this topic makes up 0.002% of all articles GDELT monitors worldwide, roughly 3 articles per day.

Is media coverage of South China Sea increasing or decreasing?

Coverage is steady 1.3% 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 -0.39, which reads as mildly 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 three 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.