MANILA — Manila on Monday rejected Beijing’s claim that it had seized control of Sandy Cay, a sandbar in the Philippines’ territorial waters as “lies and misinformation”, in what threatens to become a new flashpoint in the long-running sovereignty dispute in the South China Sea.
“The facts on the ground do not support this statement coming from the Chinese coast guard,” Jonathan Malaya, spokesman for the Philippines’ National Security Council, told reporters on Monday.
