China on Thursday began two days of live-fire military exercises in parts of the Taiwan Strait, shortly after high-level talks between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that included discussions on Taiwan.
Maritime authorities said the drills would take place around Dongshan Island in Fujian province, across the Taiwan Strait, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time on both Thursday and Friday.
The exercises come just a day after Rubio and Wang met on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Manila, where the two discussed a range of issues, including Taiwan, which Beijing claims as part of its territory despite the island’s democratic government rejecting those claims.
China has not linked the drills directly to the diplomatic meeting, but they underscore Beijing’s continued military pressure on Taiwan amid ongoing tensions with the United States.
The latest exercises follow China’s largest military drills around Taiwan in December, when the People’s Liberation Army conducted extensive war games encircling the island after Washington announced a record $11.1 billion arms package for Taipei.
During those manoeuvres, China’s Eastern Theatre Command carried out around 10 hours of live-fire exercises, launching rockets into waters north and south of Taiwan as part of a show of force.
Beijing has stepped up military activity around Taiwan in recent years, regularly deploying warships and military aircraft near the island while insisting that reunification remains an objective. Taiwan, meanwhile, maintains that only its people can determine the island’s future.
(with inputs from Reuters)
