SULAIMANI (ESTA) — China said on Tuesday that it would conduct military exercises in the South China Sea this week, just days after a U.S. aircraft carrier group entered the disputed waters.
A notice issued by the country’s Maritime Safety Administration prohibited entry into a portion of waters in the Gulf of Tonkin to the west of the Leizhou peninsula in southwestern China from January 27 to Jan. 30, according to Reuters.
The announcement came after a U.S. carrier group led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt entered the South China Sea on Saturday to promote “freedom of the seas”.
The Theodore Roosevelt is being accompanied by the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill, and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Russell and USS John Finn, according to the U.S. military.
The contested waters have become another flashpoint in the increasingly testy bilateral relationship between Beijing and Washington.
China has repeatedly complained about U.S. Navy ships getting close to Chinese-occupied islands in the South China Sea, where Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan all have competing claims.
