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 standoff over Sandy Cay, which lies close to military outposts built by both Beijing and Manila, was the latest between the two nations.

A senior Philippine military official said U.S. and Filipino forces will undertake battle-readiness exercises, including live-fire drills, in a largescale deployment that shows the Trump administration is not scaling back its commitment to help deter aggression in the region.