South China Sea Watch: China holds drills amid new tensions

TIL Desk/World/Beijing/ A look at developments in the South China Sea, where China is pitted against smaller neighbours in multiple territorial disputes over islands, coral reefs and lagoons. The waters are a major commercial shipping route and are rich in fish and possible oil and gas reserves.

China is holding new military exercises in the South China Sea amid an uptick in tensions between the Asian giant and its Southeast Asian neighbours and the U.S. The Maritime Safety Administration issued a pair of announcements blocking off seas around the area of the exercises running Sunday through Monday but gave no additional details.

China holds regular drills in the area and there was no immediate indication they had been prompted by recent events. However, they follow a series of sorties earlier this month by Chinese warplanes into Taiwan’s airspace at the northern end of the South China Sea. Beijing said those were intended as a warning to the self-governing island that China claims as its own territory to be brought under its control by force if deemed necessary.