The article analyzes the latest developments in the conflict over the South China Sea in 2024-2025. The Sino-Philippine contradictions around the Second Thomas Shoal and Scarborough Reef, the American factor in the context of the confrontation with China in the South China Sea, the goals and objectives of the Vietnamese construction of new military outposts in the disputed waters, and also examined the latest episodes related to US-Philippine defense contacts. The author comes to the conclusion about the long-term nature of the confrontation between the United States and China in the South China Sea, as well as the unwillingness of regional countries participating in the territorial dispute to make concessions to Beijing. The conflict cannot be resolved without the political will and desire of all the countries involved.