China to hold 5-day military exercise in South China Sea

Beijing [China], August 6 (ANI): China has announced that it will hold a 5-day military exercise from Friday in the South China Sea as tensions escalate in the region.

The exercise, which will include setting up a vast navigation restriction zone, comes as the US and other countries in the region are building pressure on Beijing by holding large-scale military drills. The announcement comes just days after India announced that it will deploy a task force of four warships to South East Asia, the South China Sea, and the Western Pacific.

The Indian ships are set to participate in the next edition of the Malabar exercise of the Quad (India, Japan, Australia, and the United States) and will also be included in bilateral exercises with Vietnam, the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, and Australia. According to Chinese state media Global Times, the Chinese military exercise will serve as a response to the recent provocations, demonstrating that China has “hunting rifles ready against the wolves” that hunger for China’s core interests.

China will hold the military training in the South China Sea from Friday to Tuesday, and other vessels are prohibited from entering the navigation restriction zone, read a notice released by the Maritime Safety Administration on Wednesday. The notice did not give more details on the exercise, but a Taipei-based news agency reported that the PLA launched anti-ship ballistic missiles in the South China Sea in a similar exercise last year.

Last year’s exercise, conducted from August 24 to 29, also featured a navigation restriction zone in almost the same location and of similar size announced by the Maritime Safety Administration. Indo-Pacific region is largely viewed as an area comprising the Indian Ocean and the western and central Pacific Ocean, including the South China Sea. China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea and its efforts to advance into the Indian Ocean are seen to have challenged the established rules-based system.

It claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea and has overlapping territorial claims with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan. China has been increasing its maritime activities in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea over the past few months, partly in response to Beijing’s concerns over the increasing US military presence in the region because of escalating Sino-US tensions. (ANI)