Philippines says China has not seized disputed South China Sea reef

The Philippines said Monday there was no truth to news reports that Beijing has seized control of a disputed reef in the South China Sea, after its personnel landed on the unoccupied sandbars and found no Chinese presence there.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Friday said its coast guard had landed on Sandy Cay as part of maritime control operations to exercise its sovereignty. It did not say China was occupying the feature.

CCTV showed pictures of four coast guard personnel in black combat gear holding a Chinese flag after arriving on Sandy Cay on an inflatable dinghy.

Philippine National Security Council spokesperson Jonathan Malaya on Monday said news reports of China seizing Sandy Cay were false as a Philippine team had visited the sandbars on Sunday and found nobody there.

"We are here to debunk that and to assure the public that we have not lost the Pagasa Cays," Malaya said, using the Filipino name for the sandbars, calling the reports "irresponsible".

Ties between China and the U.S. ally the Philippines are significantly strained amid heated spats over disputed parts of the South China Sea, where Beijing has deployed an armada of coast guard to reinforce its claim to sovereignty over almost the entire waterway.

The Philippines is vexed by what it calls Beijing's "aggressive" conduct and the permanent presence in its exclusive economic zone of Chinese coast guard and what Manila considers a militia of fishing vessels under its control.

Sandy Cay is close to Thitu Island, the largest and most strategically important of the nine features the Philippines occupies in the Spratly archipelago, where Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan and China also have a presence collectively on dozens of features ranging from reefs and rocks to islands, natural and artificial.

China's manmade islands include runways, ports and missile systems.

The Philippines on Sunday said it observed near Thitu Island what it called the illegal presence of Chinese coast guard and militia vessels.

China's foreign ministry said on Monday it "resolutely upholds the seriousness" of a 2002 declaration with its Southeast Asian neighbors on conduct in the South China Sea, which included not occupying more uninhabited features after Malaya reminded Beijing it was bound by it.

China's moves were "aimed at countering illegal actions, such as the Philippines' unlawful occupation of the reef and other infringing and provocative activities, to firmly safeguard national territorial sovereignty, ensure that (Sandy Cay reef) remains uninhabited and without facilities," said its spokesperson Guo Jiakun.

The latest trading of barbs comes as both the Philippines and China accuse each other of espionage and disinformation, further fueling diplomatic tensions.

The Philippines is investigating allegations by its security council that Chinese state-sponsored groups may be attempting to influence the outcome of next moth's mid-term election, which Beijing has rejected.