China holds live-fire drills opposite Taiwan, week after large-scale exercise

China is holding live-fire drills off the coast of its southern Fujian province facing Taiwan, just a week after a massive air-and-sea drill it called punishment for Taiwan’s president rejecting Beijing’s claims of sovereignty.

The live fire drills are being held near the Pingtan islands off Fujian province from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., according to a notice from the Maritime Safety Administration. It warns ships to avoid the area. It does not offer additional details.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry says China’s drills are part of an annual exercise and is tracking them. “It cannot be ruled out that it is one of the ways to expand the deterrent effect in line with the dynamics in the Taiwan Strait,” the statement adds.

Last week, China held a one-day military exercise aimed at practicing the “sealing off of key ports and key areas.” Taiwan counted a record one-day total of 153 aircraft, 14 navy vessels, and 12 Chinese government ships.

In response to Chinese moves, the US has continued to host what it calls “freedom of navigation” transits through the Taiwan Strait. On Sunday, the destroyer USS Higgins and the Canadian frigate HMCS Vancouver transited the narrow band of ocean that separates China and Taiwan.