What it's like on board an outnumbered Philippine ship facing down China's push to dominate the South China Sea

By Rebecca Wright, Ivan Watson and Kevin Broad, CNN Near Second Thomas Shoal, South China Sea (CNN) — As dawn slowly broke on the horizon, a large fleet of Chinese vessels came into view from the deck of a Philippine Coast Guard ship as it entered the contested waters of the South China Sea. Significantly outnumbered by the number of Chinese vessels, the four ships in the Philippine convoy on a resupply mission to troops were quickly surrounded and separated during a frantic high seas skirmish on Tuesday morning. Within just a few hours, the window of one Philippine boat…