Located near Taiwan and the South China Sea, the Philippines has found itself at the center of a global effort to counter China. WSJ’s Shelby Holliday traveled there to learn about the nation’s strategic importance and its growing ties with the U.S. Photo: David FangSINGAPORE—A dispute between China and the Philippines, a U.S. ally, is rapidly escalating over an unusual military outpost: a World War-II era ship that is leaky, riddled with holes, covered in rust and sitting atop a reef in the South China Sea. The decrepit ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, and the small detachment of marines aboard are defending the Philippines’ claim to Second Thomas Shoal, located about 100 miles off its west coast. The country grounded the ship on the reef 2½ decades ago to stave off China’s expanding control over the South China Sea.

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Persons: WSJ’s Shelby Holliday, David Fang SINGAPORE, Thomas Organizations: U.S, BRP, BRP Sierra Madre Locations: Taiwan, South China, Philippines, China, U.S, BRP Sierra