Sandy Cay Reef

{{distinguish|Sand Cay|Sandy Cay}}

{{Infobox islands

| disputed = yes

| name = Sandy Cay Reef

| other_names=
Đá Hoài Ân (Vietnamese)
鐵線礁 / 铁线礁 Tiěxiàn Jiāo (Chinese)

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| pushpin_map = South China Sea

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| location= South China Sea

| coordinates = {{coord|11.055|114.206|display=inline, title}}

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Sandy Cay Reef is a small coral reef in the northern Thitu Reefs of the Spratly Islands, South China Sea. It consists of multiple shallow reef platforms with dynamic sandbanks and is claimed by China, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Sandy Cay Reef lies approximately 1.5 nautical miles northwest of Thitu Island and 9.3 nautical miles northeast of Subi Reef within the western atoll rim of the Thitu Reefs.{{cite web |title=SANDY CAY (THITU REEFS) |url=https://cil.nus.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Thitu-Reefs-Sandy-Cay-Final.pdf |website=Centre for International Law |access-date=26 April 2025}}

In mid-April 2025, the China Coast Guard conducted a landing on the reef to "exercise sovereign jurisdiction," raising a Chinese flag on the sandbank in the first such occupation in years.{{cite news |last1=Hille |first1=Kathrin |last2=Sevastopulo |first2=Demetri |title=China seizes disputed reef in the South China Sea |url=https://www.ft.com/content/ae6acb23-7b09-4783-8ebb-9e88b5126361 |access-date=26 April 2025 |publisher=Financial Times |date=26 April 2025}}{{cite news |last1=Zhen |first1=Liu |title=Chinese coastguard claims ‘sovereign jurisdiction’ of Sandy Cay in South China Sea |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3307831/china-coastguard-claims-sovereign-jurisdiction-sandy-cay-south-china-sea |access-date=26 April 2025 |publisher=South China Morning Post |date=26 April 2025}}