South China Sea

A similar military exercise was conducted by the Chinese in late January, which reportedly simulated a strike on a U.S. aircraft carrier in the region.

The intense live-fire drills took place several days before a U.S. Navy destroyer conducted a freedom of navigation operation around China-controlled islands in the South China Sea.

A Chinese military spokesperson said the U.S.'s actions were "irresponsible," while the U.S. Navy said China's claim to the whole archipelago was "inconsistent with international law."

As the United States rapidly distributed emergency loans as part of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to help struggling businesses, Beijing saw an opportunity for American money and took it.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has contradicted himself just eight months after he reaffirmed the Hague ruling in a speech at the United Nations.

A Chinese think tank report said the U.S. Navy flew over 80 percent of all surveillance missions in the contested South China Sea last month.

The Shandong carrier group's combat drills in the South China Sea come on the back of the Liaoning carrier group's recent departure from the area.

Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin Jr. lashed out at China on Twitter on Sunday night as tensions between the two countries continued to escalate over the South China Sea.

Satellite images showed an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer—believed to be USS Mustin—present near the Liaoning carrier group as it conducted exercises in the Pacific and South China Sea this month.

Yang Jiechi called for "mutual respect" between the U.S. and China, saying diplomatic relations should be handled in a "constructive way."

"China has no business telling the Philippines what we can and cannot do within our own waters," Philippines Department of National Defense Director Arsenio Andolong said in the statement.

Videos captured from a Chinese fishing vessel showed a likely U.S. Navy warship tracking China's aircraft carrier Liaoning as it conducted operational drills in the South China Sea last week.

Maritime patrols by the Philippines government revealed 250 Chinese armed fishing vessels and at least six Chinese navy warships in the area on Sunday.

Jose Manuel Romualdez said the U.S. would increase the number of ships in the South China Sea "to protect the seaway" from Chinese threats to other nations' sovereignty.

"We have a serious commitment to Taiwan being able to defend itself," Biden's secretary of state said.

Lawmakers in Taipei were told that Taiwanese maritime forces would shoot down Chinese drones if the military hardware crossed into the territorial airspace of its South China Sea islands.

Taiwan's coast guard has predicted more maritime PLA activity as relations between Taipei and Washington continue to warm.

The simultaneous military drills were announced ahead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's visits to Japan and South Korea this week.

The U.S military carried out "intensive military activities in the South China Sea" last year despite the global pandemic, according to a report by a Beijing-based think tank.

U.S. naval deployments are becoming more frequent and focused on China, said maritime specialist Hu Bo.

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen remarked on the South China Sea after she heard a specially commissioned report on the security situation in the region on Wednesday.

The governments of Taiwan and China are monitoring each other's military activity as both countries announce a string of exercises for March.

USS Russell's deployment to the contested waters is the second freedom of navigation operation in the region since Joe Biden took office.

"China will continue to take necessary measures to firmly defend national sovereignty and security and work together with regional countries to safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said.

A Taiwan Air Force spokesperson told Newsweek it started publishing U.S. aircraft activity near the island in order to make developments in the Taiwan Strait "more transparent."

The call between Blinken and his counterpart in Manila comes in the wake of the Philippines' filing of a diplomatic complaint against a new Chinese coast guard law.

Following the start of sea trials for China's second Type 075 helicopter carrier, Chinese media outlets likened the country's shipbuilding speed to "cooking dumplings."

While the China accused the U.S. Navy of unauthorized entry into its territorial waters in the South China Sea, the U.S. Seventh Fleet said it was exercizing its right to freedom of navigation.

Beijing deployed its newest aircraft carrier south through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, prompting a response from Taipei.

The People's Liberation Army combat exercises were conducted as USS Makin Island and USS Somerset entered the South China Sea on Sunday, Chinese state-owned media reported.