Chinese navy launches South China Sea drills as Biden visits Asia
- US President Joe Biden is visiting South Korea and Japan as Washington and its allies focus on countering the perceived threat from Beijing
- The drills will continue until Monday, China’s maritime office says
The drills began on Thursday and will continue until Monday, the Maritime Safety Administration office in China’s southern island province of Hainan said.
Other aircraft and vessels will be prohibited from entering the area, the office said, but gave no further details.
The US does not take a foreign position on the sovereignty issue, but insists on the right to operate freely in the sea and frequently sails warships close to militarised Chinese-held islands in the area in what it calls “freedom of navigation operations”.
China routinely protests such missions, labelling them deliberate provocations that endanger peace and stability. To assert its claim, it has built airstrips and other military infrastructure atop human-made islands built on coral reefs and atolls.