Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Friday said its coast guard had landed on Sandy Cay as part of maritime control operations to exercise its sovereignty. It did not say China was occupying the feature.
CCTV showed pictures of four coast guard personnel in black combat gear holding a Chinese flag after arriving on Sandy Cay on an inflatable dinghy.
Philippine National Security Council spokesperson Jonathan Malaya on Monday said news reports of China seizing Sandy Cay were false as a Philippine team had visited the sandbars on Sunday and found nobody there.
"The facts on the ground belie their statements," Malaya said.
"We are here to debunk that and to assure the public that we have not lost the Pagasa Cays," Malaya said using the Filipino name for the sandbars, calling the reports "irresponsible".
STRATEGIC SPRATLYS
Ties between China and the U.S. ally the Philippines are significantly strained amid heated spats over disputed parts of the South China Sea, where Beijing has deployed an armada of coast guard to reinforce its claim to sovereignty over almost the entire waterway.
The Philippines is vexed by the conduct and permanent presence in its exclusive economic zone of China's coast guard and what it considers a militia of fishing vessels under its control.
Sandy Cay is close to Thitu Island, the largest and most strategically important of the nine features Manila occupies in the Spratly archipelago, where Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan and China also have a presence, ranging from reefs and rocks to islands, natural and artificial.
China's manmade islands include runways, ports and missile systems.
The Philippines on Sunday said it observed near Thitu Island what it called the illegal presence of Chinese coast guard and militia vessels. China's coast guard responded by calling the Philippine presence unlawful.
The security council's Malaya urged China to show restraint to prevent an escalation, reminding Beijing it was bound by a 2002 deal with its Southeast Asian neighbours, which included a mutual agreement not to occupy more uninhabited features.
The latest trading of barbs comes as both the Philippines and China accuse each other of espionage and disinformation, further fuelling diplomatic tensions.
The Philippines is investigating allegations by its security council that Chinese state-sponsored groups may be attempting to influence the outcome of next moth's mid-term election, which Beijing has rejected.
