China has started a series of two-day military drills, holding a series of live-fire exercises in parts of the Taiwan Strait on Thursday, July 23. The exercises are focused on Fujian’s coast, in south-east China.

The military exercises will be conducted from 6 am to 6 pm every day, according to a notice from the local maritime authorities. The area for these daily exercises is near Dongshan Island, near Guangdong province’s border.

Escalating Tensions and Diplomatic Backdrop

The timing of these military exercises is also very important: they begin one day after high-level talks in Manila. On the sidelines of an ASEAN summit, Secretary Marco Rubio met with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China.

In their discussions, the two leaders touched on various hot topics, foremost among them the fate of Taiwan under democracy. Beijing’s claim to the island as its own territory is a position which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan) and its government have always strongly opposed.

The drills come after a recent surge of increased military tensions in the area. Last December, China held the largest exercise yet, virtually surrounding Taiwan with military forces.

The previous exercises were triggered by a record $11.1 billion arms package that the United States announced for strengthening the island’s defence forces. In the Ministry of National Defense of the People’s Republic of China‘s Eastern Theatre Command (ETC), rockets were fired directly into the waters north and south of Taiwan in a ten-hour operation.