China: The South China Sea and Submarine Warfare

A Chinese submarine reportedly collided June 11 with a sonar array towed by the USS John S. McCain (DDG-56). Neither vessel was reportedly damaged in the incident, which took place in the South China Sea near Subic Bay in the Philippines. The collision was merely the latest in a series of naval incidents between China and the United States, and it may be considered a harbinger of increased naval — and particularly submarine — activity by numerous countries in the region.