China launches live-fire military drills north of Taiwan

China began military exercises in the East China Sea to the north of Taiwan, including live-fire drills from warships. Meanwhile, the U.S. and its allies conduct their drills in the Western Pacific.

China’s Maritime Safety Administration issued a no-sail zone warning from late morning to mid-afternoon on Tuesday for an area in the East China Sea, off the coast of Taizhou city for live fire exercises.

Other drills around the same location will last until late Tuesday evening, it said.

The drills are near the Dachen islands, which Taiwan controlled until 1955. The island nation had to evacuate after other nearby islands were seized by Chinese forces in a bloody battle.

Taiwan still controls the Matsu and Kinmen islands, near China’s Fujian province, held since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taipei after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong’s communists.

China will also hold separate exercises in another northern part of the East China Sea until late Wednesday afternoon, China’s Maritime Safety Administration added.

Western countries’ exercises

China’s exercises coincide with a quadrilateral naval exercise in the Philippine Sea that started on Friday involving the United States, Japan, Canada, and France.

These drills include two carrier strike groups led by U.S. aircraft carriers USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan jointly operating for the first time since June 2020, the U.S. 7th Fleet said in a statement.