Tiny sandbank becomes focus of China-Philippines territorial dispute

China and the Philippines unfurled their national flags on a tiny disputed sandbank in the South China Sea, putting a recent diplomatic detente in doubt. The territorial standoff on the uninhabited Sandy Cay, which lies near the disputed Spratly Islands, came days after Manila and Washington began joint military drills. The Philippines and China had, until recently, appeared to have reached an accommodation: Manila just this month successfully resupplied a ship grounded on another disputed island, without Beijing’s navy disrupting the mission as it has in the past. But analysts had already warned the calm may be temporary, with one telling the South China Morning Post that both countries were trying to “prepare for something extraordinary.”