evidence: Enter Thitu — an island that the Philippines calls Pag-asa, while China calls it Zhongye. It is the only civilian-inhabited island of the Spratlys, and its approximately 250 full-time residents see their quiet existence as both an escape and an act of resistance. By continually occupying the spit of sand, they hope to keep it in the hands of the Philippines. [...] Since then, the Philippines' more China-friendly policies under the previous government have done an about-face under the country's current President Marcos, who has made defending Manila's territorial claims of the Spratly Islands a priority. [...] China has repeatedly said the Philippines has no legitimate claim to the island it calls Zhongye, nor to other Spratly land features or the waters around them. China says it is blocking Filipino resupply boats because they are carrying construction materials, not food.