The competing claims are reigniting tensions in the South China Sea and coincide with joint military drills between the U.S. and the Philippines.

BEIJING (AP) — China says six Filipinos landed on a tiny outcropping that both countries claim in the South China Sea, days after photos emerged of Chinese coast guard officers displaying a Chinese flag on the same group of sandbars.

The Philippine team, using four motorised rubber boats, disembarked at Pag-asa Cay 1, Cay 2 and Cay 3 before sunrise. Their success was evidence that China’s earlier claims of control were misleading, according to Commodore Jay Tarriela, spokesman for the Philippine Coast Guard on South China Sea issues.