In Response To Earlier US Provocations, China Starts 10-Day Navy Drills in Disputed Waters of South China Sea

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China Starts 10-Day Navy Drills in Disputed Waters of South China Sea

The Chinese Navy has begun a 10-day military exercises in the waters of the South China Sea amid increased tensions in the area, local media reported on Wednesday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — During the drills near eastern Hainan Island, “no vessel is allowed to enter the designated maritime areas,” China’s Maritime Safety Administration said as quoted by The China Daily newspaper.

The South China Sea dispute centers on the Spratly Islands, a group of more than 750 islands and reefs, where China has been constructing artificial islands on coral reefs over the past few months, some with defense facilities.

The archipelago, holding potentially significant oil and gas reserves, is the subject of a territorial dispute between several regional countries.
Chinese dredging vessels are purportedly seen in the waters around Mischief Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, in this file still image from video taken by a P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft and provided by the United States Navy on May 21, 2015
On Thursday, Beijing demanded the Philippines to withdraw a decommissioned World War 2 US Navy vessel deliberately grounded off a disputed shoal in the South China Sea and currently serving as a military outpost.
Last month, Japanese media reported that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at a closed-doors meeting that Japan’s new security bills, allowing Japan’s troops to fight abroad for the first time since World War II, could enable Tokyo to side with Washington against Beijing in the South China Sea’s dispute.
Read more: http://sputniknews.com/military/20150722/1024904995.html#ixzz3gezUDl5m

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