South China Sea gray-zone escalation: US condemnation, German warship, and Scarborough Shoal standoff

China launched joint PLA/coast guard drills around Scarborough Shoal after the Philippines submitted a new UN nautical chart. Senior official Chen Xi warned Manila. The US has now publicly slammed China's 'nature reserve' move as a territorial power grab, and Germany sent a warship to the South China Sea for the first time in 18 years, signaling European naval pushback.