The People's Liberation Army of China has carried out a new round of live-fire exercises in the Taiwan Strait on Thursday, 23 July, through Friday, 24 July, from 06:00 to 18:00, in waters around Dongshan Island off the coast of Fujian Province, bordering Guangdong Province in southern China. This was according to a navigation safety warning issued by China's Maritime Safety Administration on Wednesday (22 July).
News of this round of exercises emerged one day after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Manila, the Philippines, covering various issues including Taiwan — which China regards as its own territory, but which is currently governed as a democracy and rejects China's sovereignty claims over it.
China typically conducts its most intensive exercises at their peak during the middle and latter part of July, when weather and environmental conditions are at their worst — including extreme heat — in an effort to improve its capabilities under such conditions.
Nevertheless, China also staged its largest-ever military exercises last December, in which Taiwan Island was completely encircled, following the U.S. government's announcement of an arms sales deal worth $11.1 billion — considered historic military assistance for Taiwan to enhance its self-defense capabilities amid military pressure from China.
During those ten-hour live-fire drills, China's Eastern Theater Command fired missiles into waters to the north and south of Taiwan.
Sources: Reuters / South China Morning Post
