Any move to pursue arbitration would be highly controversial after the Philippines' landmark 2016 victory that concluded Beijing's claim to sovereignty over most of the South China Sea had no basis under international law.

China claims that the Philippines is bringing construction materials that reinforces the warship and violates its sovereignty in the shoal while the Philippines says it is taking water and food to its troops.

Relations froze over the South China Sea under Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, with Manila pivoting back to the US, which supports the Southeast Asian nation in its maritime disputes with China.

China has built militarised, manmade islands in the South China Sea and its claim of historic sovereignty overlaps with the exclusive economic zones of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.

The joint exercises, a first for the two nations, come amid renewed tensions between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea.

The Philippines intentionally grounded the World War Two-era warship Sierra Madre in 1999 as part of its sovereignty claim to the Second Thomas Shoal, which lies within its exclusive economic zone.

The Philippines maintains a handful of troops aboard the World War Two-era Sierra Madre at the Second Thomas Shoal which is located inside its 200 mile exclusive economic zone.

Tensions have soared over the South China Sea under Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, with Manila pivoting back to the US, which supports the Southeast Asian nation in its maritime disputes with China.

China has communicated to the Philippines on the Second Thomas Shoal issue 'many times' through diplomatic channels, but its goodwill and sincerity have been 'ignored', it says.

China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, an assertion rejected internationally, while Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan and the Philippines have various claims to certain areas.

The Philippines in 1999 intentionally grounded the warship to stake its claim to the Second Thomas Reef, a submerged reef that is part of the Spratly islands in the South China Sea.

The US has reaffirmed its support for a 2016 arbitration ruling, which China says it does not recognise.