China and the Philippines have each unfurled their national flags on tiny sandbars in the South China Sea, staking competing sovereignty claims in strategic waters seen as a potential flashpoint for global conflict.

BEIJING (AP) — China says six Filipinos landed on a tiny outcropping that both countries claim in the South China Sea, days after photos emerged of Chinese coast guard officers displaying a Chinese flag on the same group of sandbars.

Tiny Sandy Cay is strategically vital due to proximity to largest island occupied by Philippines in Spratly archipelago