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, …

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

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

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.

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

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 …