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.

Philippine Coast Guard personnel documents a Chinese Coast Guard vessel shadowing the Philippine's resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, March 5, 2024. REUTERS/Adrian Portugal/File Photo BEIJING (Reuters) - China gave permission for a civilian ship sent by the Philippines to take supplies to its "illegally" beached warship at the Second Thomas Shoal,

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.

The China Coast Guard conducted law enforcement patrols in the territorial waters of China’s Huangyan Island and the surrounding area,” the China Coast Guard said, referring to Scarborough Shoal, known as Panatag Shoal in the Philippines “This was a law-enforcement activity carried out by the Chinese maritime police in accordance with the law.

The Philippines' foreign ministry summoned the Chinese ambassador on Wednesday, November 13, to protest against Beijing's establishment of baseline coordinates around the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea,