In 2019

The South China Sea situation remained largely calm. China and the Philippines maintained continuous communication on maritime cooperation and dialogue, and the overall situation in the South China Sea remained under effective control.

From 2019 to 2021

Certain claimant states and a few countries from outside the region began to hype up the "South China Sea Arbitration" in multilateral forums such as the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), to which China responded with tit-for-tat rebuttals and legal arguments.