A small reef no larger than a few dozen square meters was the latest flash point in the escalating territorial feud in the South China Sea between the Philippines and China this weekend.
The drama began last Thursday when a China Coast Guard (CCG) crew landed on Sandy Cay reef, part of the disputed Spratly Islands, and unfurled a Chinese flag. This sparked a furious reaction from the Philippines that swiftly dispatched their own Coast Guard crew to the reef where they too unfurled a flag to challenge China’s claim to what is effectively little more than a sandbar.
Later on Sunday, the CCG said it “dealt with” the situation after it deployed a separate team that “reasserted maritime control” over the reef.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? Sandy Cay is so small that it’s insignificant in territorial terms. What’s important here, though, is the fact that the reef is located well within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone as stipulated by the United Nations — a point of fact that China seemingly disregards.
