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

Both countries have planted flags on a collection of sand bars, extending the clash over the area between Beijing and Manila, a U.S. ally