China's Dalian Maritime Affairs Bureau today announced that live-fire drills are being held in the northern Yellow Sea from 10am to 6pm, and entry to certain areas is prohibited, the state-run China National Radio reported.
The exercises are being held during Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) six-day “mission of peace” to China. She arrived in the country on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, six Chinese aircraft, eight navy vessels and one official ship were detected operating around Taiwan in the 24 hours before 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said.
Photo: Reuters
Five of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s northern and southwestern air defense identification zones, it said.
The armed forces “monitored the situation and employed [patrol] aircraft, navy vessels and coastal missile systems in response to the detected activities,” it said.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
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