STORY: A dispute between China and the Philippines over a sunken war ship has heated up.

Footage released on Tuesday by the Chinese coast guard shows its ship spraying a Philippine vessel with a water cannon in what Beijing described as a ‘warning’ to Manila.

The Philippine vessel had been carrying supplies to a grounded warship in a disputed area of the South China Sea.

The warship, which dates back to World War Two, is used by the Philippines as a military outpost.

It was purposefully grounded in 1999 to reinforce Manila’s sovereignty claims in the Spratly archipelago.

Beijing wants the ship to be towed away, but Manila remains defiant.

Here’s Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr:

“We continue to assert our sovereignty. We continue to assert our territorial rights in the face of all of these challenges and consistent with the international law, and UNCLOS (United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea) especially.”

In response, China’s Foreign Ministry released a statement reiterating its request for the warship to be removed, adding that its “goodwill and sincerity” on the issue had been ignored.

Saturday’s incident is just the latest in long list of complaints Manila has lodged against China.

In February, the Philippines accused Chinese coast guards of using a laser to try to disrupt another resupply mission to its troops.

China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, which overlaps with the waters of Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan and the Philippines.