China holds simultaneous military drills in four seas: Report

China has begun five military exercises simultaneously along different parts of its coast, the second time in two months it will have such concurrent drills against a backdrop of rising regional tensions. A Reuters news agency report on Monday said two of the exercises are being held near the Paracel Islands in the disputed South China Sea, one in the East China Sea, and one further north in the Bohai Sea, the Maritime Safety Administration said in notices on its website. In the southern part of the Yellow Sea, drills including live-fire exercises will be held from Monday to Wednesday, it said in another notice, adding that all ships are prohibited from entering the area. In a bid to train a combat-ready military, China holds such drills periodically, though multiple exercises happening at the same time are rare. The four separate exercises were announced last month, a rare arrangement, according to Chinese military experts. In response, the United States sent spy planes into a no-fly zone over the Chinese live-fire military drills as China lodged “stern representations” with Washington. style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0; left: 0;">