A storm is brewing in the South China Sea. China claims large swathes of it as its own, but President Biden has recently warned that it must be open for trade and navigation. Caught in the middle are Filipino fishermen, who increasingly find themselves shadowed by the Chinese coastguard and militia boats as they try to earn a living.

Howard Johnson sails to Scarborough Shoal, a large coral reef 120 nautical miles off the coast of the Philippines, to discover how far China is prepared to go to assert its power and influence in the region.