Philippines denies 'irresponsible' Chinese report on disputed reef

The Sandy Cay reef lies near Thitu Island, or Pag-asa, where the Philippines stations troops and maintains a coast guard monitoring base. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said Saturday that the country's coast guard had "implemented maritime control" over Tiexian Reef, part of Sandy Cay, in mid-April. The Philippines and China have been engaged in months of confrontations over the South China Sea, which Beijing claims nearly in its entirety despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.