Chinese Navy conducts live fire drills in South China Sea after US warships enter region

China's first domestically built aircraft carrier, Shandong, has led a strike group in intensive live-fire drills in South China Sea. flotilla also includes a 055 stealth guided-missile destroyer and three guided-missile destroyers, as per a report from South China Morning Post. se confrontational drills began last week, according to an announcement on PLA Navy's WeChat account. As Lunar New Year approaches, defense experts believe that People's Liberation Army (PLA) is on high alert, as military confrontations between US and China have increased during major festivals in region.

This comes as US Navy's 7th fleet reported that USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group h begun routine operations in region, including maritime strike training, flight operations, and anti-submarine activities. Zhou Chenming, a researcher at Yuan Wang military science and technology think tank in Beijing, stated that People's Liberation Army (PLA) is being "forced" to be vigilant as in recent years, US military has deployed more aircraft and warships to China's souastern coast during Lunar New Year period. 

Close calls are raising tension

A US Boeing RC-135 spy plane conducted a close-in reconnaissance flight near eastern Chinese cities of Shanghai and Qingdao on January 7th, according to Zhou Chenming. He ded that it is difficult for People's Liberation Army (PLA) to predict motivations of such provocative moves by US military, as two countries have yet to resolve ir differences over maritime order. Recently, re was a close call between two PLA J-11 fighter jets and a US spy plane over South China Sea, with both sides blaming each or. 

Zhou stated that United States is able to conduct freedom of navigation exercises and flights in area without any limitations because y have not signed UN Convention on Law of Sea, which regards waters as part of China's exclusive economic zone. Chinese People's Liberation Army is concerned that se incursions by US planes and ships could cause instability and conflicts. Zhou also mentioned that while it is common for PLA to send warships such as destroyers and frigates to monitor American carrier strike groups in region, it is unusual for China to send a flotilla led by an aircraft carrier.