The live-fire drills are to take place in a limited area in the waters near Niushan Island from 9 am to 1 pm local time, the official Fujian Daily reported, citing a notice from the Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) on Pingtan, an island off the coast of Fujian province in southeastern China, South China Morning Post reported.
Sitting east of Pingtan Island, Niushan Island is only 165 kilometers (102 miles) from Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan.
It is also the closest point between mainland China and the main island of Taiwan, hosting China’s largest lighthouse in the region.
Ships would be prohibited from entering the area, the notice added.
Tuesday’s drills would come only two days after the USS Higgins, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, and HMCS Vancouver, a Halifax-class frigate, made transit through the strait on Sunday, a move Beijing denounced as “disturbing the situation and undermining peace and stability” in the region. Liu Xi, the spokesperson for the Eastern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army, said the PLA was “on high alert” and would “resolutely defend national sovereignty and security and regional peace and stability”.
The US Pacific Command said on Sunday that the ships conducted a “routine Taiwan Strait transit through waters where high-seas freedom of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law”.
SD/