China said on Friday the Philippines had sent supplies to a beached warship on Second Thomas Shoal, a disputed atoll in the South China Sea. In a separate statement, the Phlippine Coast Guard said it had rotated personnel staffing the Sierra Madre and sent supplies to the vessel.

China has held sea and air combat drills at disputed Scarborough Shoal, an uninhabited area of reefs and rocks it had seized from the Philippines in the South China Sea.

The Philippines has protested China’s baselines around the disputed Scarborough Shoal, as tensions between the two nations build up anew over their competing claims in the South China Sea.

China gave permission for a civilian ship sent by the Philippines to take supplies to its "illegally" beached warship at the Second Thomas Shoal, the Asian giant's coast guard said on Friday.