The vessel, which landed on the Spratly Islands atoll yesterday, was there for supply purposes, the Chinese coast guard posted on the Weixin platform.

The Philippines has stationed a small number of troops on a World War Two ship it grounded in 1999 as an outpost to reinforce its sovereignty claim over the Second Thomas Shoal, known as Ayungin in the Philippines and the Renai Reef in China.

Manila refused Beijing’s requests last year to tow the vessel away in the row that has soured relations between the two Asian nations.

China asserts sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, including areas claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration held in 2016 that China’s claims had no legal basis.