China to conduct ‘major military activity’ in Yellow Sea amid heightened tensions in region
Fox News
China is reportedly planning to conduct a “major military activity” in the Yellow Sea this week amid heightened tensions in the region.
China’s Maritime Safety Administration said Monday that military operations will take place in the Yellow Sea on Monday between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. local time, without disclosing further information.
The agency warned mariners not to enter the waters off the coast of Shandong province, which is often used for military drills and far enough away from the U.S. regional allies.
The planned military activity comes after China held military drills around Taiwan in what Beijing asserted was a warning to the self-governing island nation.
The Chinese military held three days of large-scale air and sea exercises it dubbed “Joint Sword” that ended last Monday, which followed U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.
China had warned of serious consequences if the meeting took place.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy sailed a warship through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, drawing protests from Beijing, which denounced the transit as “public hype.”
A spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command said it was ready at any time to “resolutely safeguard the country’s sovereignty, safety, and regional peace and stability.”
China has stepped up its military pressure over Taiwan in recent years, sending fighter jets and navy vessels toward the island on a near-daily basis.
After former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan last August, China sent more and more military vessels over the midline of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial boundary that had been accepted for decades. That increasing pressure from China has given greater attention to Taiwan globally.
Fox News’ Adam Sabes and Reuters contributed to this report.