BEIJING, Sept 28 (Reuters) - China began five military
exercises simultaneously along different parts of its coast on
Monday, the second time in two months it will have such
concurrent drills against a backdrop of rising regional tension.
Two of the exercises are being held near the Paracel Islands
in the disputed South China Sea, one in the East China Sea, and
one in further north in the Bohai Sea, the Maritime Safety
Administration said in notices on its website.
In the southern part of the Yellow Sea, drills including
live-fire exercises will be held from Monday to Wednesday, it
said in another notice.
All ships are prohibited from entering the area, it said.
In a bid to train a combat-ready military force, China holds
military drills periodically, but rarely do multiple exercises
happen at the same time.
Last month, China announced four separate exercises, from
the Bohai Sea to the East and Yellow Seas and down to the
disputed South China Sea, in what Chinese military experts said
was a rare arrangement of drills. The United States sent spy planes into a no-fly zone over
Chinese live-fire military drills last month. In response, China
lodged "stern representations" with the United States.
China and the United States have recently been at
loggerheads over a range of issues from Taiwan to the
coronavirus pandemic to trade and human rights.
China has also held frequent military activities near
Chinese-claimed Taiwan and has taken the usual step of declaring
that such drills are directed at Taiwan.