Chinese military to hold live-fire drills off the Fujian coast

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will hold live-fire drills off the coast of Fujian Province on Thursday and Friday according to China’s Maritime Safety Administration.

The Fujian maritime authority issued a navigation warning on their website and public WeChat account announcing that the drills will take place from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm on Thursday and Friday in the Xinghua Bay off the coast of Fuzhou.  Ships were asked not to enter the drill zone for safety reasons.

Last week, following Vice President Lai Ching-te’s (賴清德) return from Paraguay, the Eastern Theater Command of the PLA announced that it would hold joint naval and air combat readiness patrols and joint drills around Taiwan. They said the action was a stern warning against the collusion of “Taiwan Independence separatist forces” and “external forces” to provoke tensions.