Can Anyone Really Rule the South China Sea?

East Asian Powers Jockey for Islands and Atolls in an Ocean that Defies Man-Made Boundaries

Zócalo’s editors are diving into our archives and throwing it back to some of our favorite pieces. This week: The late political scientist and sinologist Aileen San Pablo-Baviera reflects on the man-made disputes over the South China Sea—its islands, atolls, and watery borders.

Wherever you go in the Philippines, the sea is never too far away.

I spent summers as a child laying on sunny beaches and playing in the waves. Sometimes we would go to an island where the white sand, framed by coconut trees, …

by Aileen San Pablo-Baviera | November 22, 2016

In My Family’s American Dream, Bootstraps Met Blocks of Government Cheese

After an Arduous Journey Emigrating from Vietnam in the ‘70s, the Author Benefitted from Both Personal Resilience and Public Assistance

By Kim Luu | August 23, 2016

I spoke my first words on a boat: “milk,” “cockroach,” and “itchy.” An unusual toddler vocabulary perhaps, but not surprising considering that I spent the second year of my …

How PTSD Nearly Stole My Life

Haunted by Guilt and the Smells of Blood and Gunpowder

by Rick Martinez | November 9, 2015

It has been 45 years since I returned to the U.S. from Vietnam. I was only 19, but the year I spent there made me feel like I had already …

Can SoCal’s Most Reluctant Patients Get Preventive Healthcare?

Try Speaking Their Language. And If You Build a Health Fair, They Just Might Come.

by Anderson Nguyen | February 3, 2014

I met Mr. Pham two years ago as he sat in line at a health fair in Garden Grove and anxiously tapped his feet. I was a volunteer that day, …

My Living, Yet Lost, Father

The Final Weeks Of South Vietnam Changed Everything Between Us

by Kyanh Tonnu | July 9, 2012

In the spring of 1975, when I was eight years old, my family, which included my parents and younger sister, moved from Vietnam, our native home, to Singapore. My father …

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