BEIJING, June 13 (Reuters) - China began military exercises in the East China sea to the north of Taiwan on Tuesday, including live-fire exercises from warships, as the U.S and its allies conduct their drills in the Western Pacific.
China routinely conducts exercises along its coast, though the ones near Chinese-claimed Taiwan often attract the most attention.
The drills are near the Dachen islands, which Taiwan controlled until 1955 until being evacuated after other nearby islands were seized by Chinese forces in a bloody battle.
China will hold separate exercises in another northern part of the East China Sea until late Wednesday afternoon, the maritime safety agency said.
China's East China Sea exercises coincide with a quadrilateral naval exercise in the Philippine Sea that started on Friday involving the United States, Japan, Canada and France.
Persons:
Mao Zedong's, Ronald Reagan, Ryan Woo, Albee Zhang, Ben Blanchard, Robert Birsel
Organizations:
U.S, Safety Administration, East China, China, U.S . 7th Fleet, Thomson
Locations:
BEIJING, China, East China, Taiwan, Western Pacific, Zhejiang, China's Fujian, Republic of China, Taipei, East, Philippine, United States, Japan, Canada, France