A tiny sandbar in the disputed South China Sea has become the latest flashpoint in tensions between China and the Philippines, with each side displaying its flag to reinforce competing claims on the island.

在存在主权争议的南中国海，一个小沙洲已成为中国与菲律宾紧张关系的最新爆发点，为了加强对该岛的主权主张，双方都登岛展示国旗。

Earlier this month, members of the Chinese Coast Guard landed on the disputed reef, Sandy Cay, unfurled a flag and “exercised sovereign jurisdiction,” Chinese state media reported on Thursday.

据中国官方媒体上周四报道，中国海警在本月早些时候登上了这个名为铁线礁(Sandy Cay)的有主权争议的沙洲，展开了一面国旗，“行使主权管辖权”。

They left the island by Sunday, when the Philippines deployed its own personnel to the sandbar. Hours later, Beijing called the act an “illegal boarding,” saying it had “indisputable sovereignty” over the Spratly Islands, a chain of dozens of slivers of land, including Sandy Cay, in the South China Sea, and its surrounding waters.

中国海警已在周日离岛，菲律宾则在当天把自己的人员派往该沙洲。几个小时后，中国政府称菲律宾人“非法登上”该岛，并称中国对斯普拉特利群岛（Spratly Islands，中国称之为南沙群岛——译注）及其附近海域“拥有无可争辩的主权”，该群岛位于南中国海，由数十个包括沙洲在内的土地碎片组成。

The standoff comes days after the United States and the Philippines began their annual joint military drills in the Philippines, which China has criticized as undermining regional stability. The United States is a treaty ally of the Philippines and has pledged to come to the aid of Manila in the event of an attack.

这次对峙发生在美菲两国在菲律宾开始进行年度联合军事演习的几天后。中国批评该演习破坏了区域稳定。美国是菲律宾的条约盟友，并承诺在菲律宾受到打击时向该国提供援助。

China’s expansive territorial claims in the South China Sea have flared tensions in the region for years. It has built up a large military presence in the Spratlys, setting up a military base on reclaimed land around Subi Reef, which is near Thitu Island, the Philippines’ most important military outpost in the Spratlys.

中国对南中国海的大片水域提出了主权主张，这些主张多年来加剧了该地区的紧张局势。中国已在南沙群岛建立庞大的军事存在，围绕着渚碧礁填海造地，在上面修建了军事基地。渚碧礁靠近中业岛，而中业岛是菲律宾在南沙群岛最重要的军事前哨。

Some observers said China might be trying to assert control of Sandy Cay — which covers an area of 200 square meters, or about 2,150 square feet — to legitimize its claim on Subi Reef, the naturally occurring parts of which are submerged during high tide.

一些观察人士表示，中国可能正试图控制面积仅有200平方米的铁线礁，以使其对渚碧礁的主权主张合法化。渚碧礁自然露出水面的部分在涨潮时会被淹没。

“Even if they created an artificial island, there’s no territorial sea,” said Antonio Carpio, a former Supreme Court justice who helped the Philippines win a landmark international ruling against China over its claims in the South China Sea. “The only way they can legalize that is to get Sandy Cay.”

“即使他们在上面建造了一个人工岛，渚碧礁也没有领海，”安东尼奥·卡皮奥说，他曾在菲律宾最高法院担任大法官，帮助菲律宾赢得了一项具有里程碑意义的国际裁决，该裁决针对的是中国在南中国海的主权主张。 “他们能使主权宣称合法化的唯一办法是占据铁线礁。”

美国和菲律宾举行联合军事演习，摄于周日。

Euan Graham, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said the latest development reflected a shift in China’s approach in the South China Sea.

澳大利亚战略政策研究所的高级分析师尤安·格雷厄姆说，这一最新进展反映了中国在南中国海的做法有所改变。

“They’re not piling on giant slabs of concrete or pouring on the PLA,” Mr. Graham said, referring to the People’s Liberation Army of China. “They’re doing a flag waving ceremony, hopping off and claiming sovereignty and testing the waters to see what happens. The interesting part is that the Philippines went straight in and effectively copied the same modus operandi.”

“他们不是正在堆砌大量混凝土，也没有大量投入中国人民解放军，”格雷厄姆说。“他们正在干的是仪式性地展示国旗，跳上岛去宣称主权，试探一下局势，看看会发生什么。有意思的是，菲律宾直接跟了一手，实际上复制了同样的做法。”

He added: “The key question is, what’s the U.S. attitude? Will they back their ally if it gets more heated, or will they effectively say, ‘Well, no, we’re not going to go to war over a silly piece of sand.’”

他补充说：“关键问题是，美国的态度是什么？如果事态进一步升温，美国人会支持他们的盟友吗？还是实际上会说，‘哦，不，我们不要为了一块荒唐的沙地发动战争。’”

On Monday morning, Jonathan Malaya, the assistant director general of the Philippines’ National Security Council, pushed back on China’s claim that Beijing had seized the reef and urged it to “act with restraint and not increase tensions” in the South China Sea.

周一上午，菲律宾国家安全委员会助理总干事乔纳森·马拉亚驳斥了中国对铁线礁的主权主张，并敦促中国“保持克制，不要加剧南中国海的紧张局势”。

“It is not to the benefit of any nation if these things are happening, nor is it to the benefit of any nation if such irresponsible announcements and statements are released to the public and to the world,” he told reporters.

“发生这些事情对任何国家都没有好处；向公众和全世界发布这些不负责任的声明和公告对任何国家也都没有好处，”他对记者说。

Beijing claims about 90 percent of the South China Sea, parts of which are also claimed by Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines. Manila has been at the forefront of the territorial fight, saying that Chinese ships have been blocking access to fishing sites as well as oil and gas deposits in the waters that are in its exclusive economic zone.

中国声称对南中国海约90%的水域拥有主权，越南、马来西亚、文莱、印度尼西亚，以及菲律宾也声称对其中部分水域拥有主权。菲律宾一直处于这些领海争端的前沿，菲律宾说，中国船只一直在阻挠菲律宾渔民进入属于该国专属经济区的水域，不让菲律宾在本国专属经济区里开采油气资源。

Those tensions have escalated dramatically in recent years, raising the risk that Washington could be drawn into a conflict.

这些紧张局势近年来已急剧升级，增加了美国卷入冲突的风险。

Both the Philippines and China have published photographs of their own flags being displayed on the reefs. The Chinese state broadcaster CCTV published a photograph of four people standing on the uninhabited reef.

菲律宾和中国都发布了自己在铁线礁展示国旗的照片。中国官方的中央电视台发布的照片显示四个人站在无人居住的铁线礁上。

Jay Tarriela, a spokesman for the Philippines Coast Guard, told reporters that Manila had deployed officers to check whether the Chinese government had installed any infrastructure or monitoring devices on Sandy Cay but found nothing. But he added that a Chinese Coast Guard vessel and seven China maritime militia vessels remained near the island.

菲律宾海岸警卫队发言人杰伊·塔列拉达对记者说，菲律宾政府已派人到铁线礁上去检查中国政府是否在岛上安装了基础设施或监控设备，但没有发现任何东西。但他补充说，一艘中国海警船和七艘中国海上民兵船仍在该岛附近。