China and Philippines show competing flags on disputed South China Sea sandbank

China and the Philippines have displayed their nationwide flags in competing photograph alternatives on a disputed sandbank within the South China sea, ratcheting up longstanding regional tensions between the 2 international locations.

The dispute performed out at Sandy Cay, which is a part of the disputed Spratly Islands, and springs days after the USA and the Philippines introduced their annual joint army drills known as “Balikatan”, or “shoulder to shoulder”, which this 12 months will come with an built-in air and missile defence simulation for the primary time.

The newest disagreement seems to have begun on Thursday, when Chinese state media reported the Coast Guard has landed at the disputed reef, unfurled a flag and “exercised sovereign jurisdiction”.

On Sunday, China’s coast guard then accused six Filipino workforce of “illegally boarding” Sandy Cay, which Beijing calls Tiexian Reef, previous that day in spite of “warnings and dissuasion” from the Chinese facet.

Spokesperson Liu Dejun stated coast guard workforce then “boarded the reef and investigated and dealt with it in accordance with the law”.

“We urge the Philippines to immediately stop its infringement,” Liu stated, including that the movements “violated China’s territorial sovereignty”.

There don’t seem to be any indicators that China has completely occupied the reef or has constructed a construction on it.

State broadcaster CCTV printed {a photograph} of 5 black-clad other people status at the uninhabited reef as a depressing inflatable boat bobbed within the close by water. The team additionally “cleaned up leftover plastic bottles, wooden sticks and other debris and garbage on the reef”, the broadcaster reported.

Philippines Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela stated on Sunday that its army, coast guard and police workforce had deployed to Sandy Cay in 4 rubber boats and had “observed the illegal presence” of a Chinese Coast Guard vessel and 7 China maritime armed forces vessels.

Posting photos of their very own flag being displayed, Tarriela added: “This operation reflects the unwavering dedication and commitment of the Philippine government to uphold the country’s sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea.”

Beijing claims sovereignty over nearly all the South China Sea and has waved away competing assertions from different international locations within the area in addition to a global ruling that its place has no prison foundation.

At the hole rite in Manila for the joint US-Philippines army drills, which started on Monday final week, US Marine Corps Lieutenant General James Glynn stated the 2 aspects would “demonstrate not just our will to uphold our mutual defence treaty in existence since 1951 but our matchless capability to do so”.

“Nothing builds bonds more quickly than shared adversity,” he stated, with out specifying a not unusual risk.

Beijing stated the army manoeuvres “undermine regional strategic stability” and accused Manila of “collusion with countries outside the region”.

With Agence France-Presse