Amid tensions in Taiwan Strait due to back-to-back trips by U.S. lawmakers to Taiwan, China on Wednesday began three-day military drills in the Yellow Sea.
Chinese Maritime Safety Administration (CMSA) said the entry of non-military vessels has been banned to the areas where the drills will be conducted.
Military exercises began around 8.30 a.m. (0030GMT) on Wednesday and will last till 5 p.m. (0900GMT) on Friday, Chinese daily Global Times reported.
The Chinese military has held massive exercises since early this month soon after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi paid an unannounced visit to Taiwan which Beijing views as its "breakaway province."
Beijing condemned the trip, sanctioned Pelosi and her family, and downgraded military dialogue with the U.S. besides taking five other "countermeasures."
However, this Sunday, 12 days after Pelosi's trip, another delegation of U.S. lawmakers landed in Taipei where they held the security and supply chain dialogue with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.
Land, naval, and air force brigades of the People's Liberation Army held unprecedented drills, holding live-fire exercises with ballistic missiles flying over the self-ruled island and falling into waters, claimed by Japan as its exclusive economic zones. Beijing denies the two countries have demarcated their maritime boundaries.
The PLA on Wednesday said its Southern Theater Command naval base dispatched a fleet to the South China Sea and conducted four-day long air and anti-missile military exercises, including intercepting missiles and destroying offshore targets.
Beijing has warned the U.S. will "exploit" the situation in Taiwan Strait and increase its military deployment in the region, following Pelosi's trip.
Qin Gang, Chinese ambassador to the U.S., also urged Washington "to stop its words and actions that would escalate the tension."
"Pelosi visited China's Taiwan region with the connivance and arrangement of the US government, which has seriously violated the commitments made by the US. Facts have proved that this is an out-and-out political provocation and farce," Qin told American journalists in a joint interview on Tuesday.
Qin blamed the U.S. side which "took the first step to provoke China on the Taiwan question and openly infringed on China's sovereignty and territorial integrity."
"China had made the utmost efforts to prevent this crisis from being imposed on China. We had expressed firm opposition at various levels and through various channels. We had warned that if Pelosi made the visit, there would be very serious consequences. China would firmly and forcefully respond. To our regret, the US chose not to listen," he said.
