Beijing in ‘State of Alert’ Ahead of Key Ruling on South China Sea

Armored vehicles and undercover police have been deployed around the Embassy of the Philippines in Beijing amid rumors of planned protests 

Hours before a ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on the South China Sea dispute, authorities in Beijing have issued instructions to law enforcement to increase security outside the Embassy of the Philippines and around the city. 

The decree comes in a tense atmosphere and amid rumors of possible large protests outside the embassy of the Philippines — the country that took the dispute to the court — as well as the Embassy of the United States, the country that Chinese nationalists blame for the whole mess. 

My article, published today in The News Lens International, continues here.