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.

The back and forth over Sandy Cay is the latest flare-up in a long-running dispute over territory in the hotly contested South China Sea.

Both countries have planted flags on a collection of sand bars, extending the clash over the area between Beijing and Manila, a U.S. ally