The Government said in a brief communiqué that the exercises will last until August 19, and issued a navigation alert and restricted the passage of vessels that were not linked to the drills.

Earlier, the PLA carried out live-fire drills in the Yellow Sea from August 1 to 14, and the current ones are taking place alongside the maneuvers that began around Taiwan on Monday, amid the high tensions over visits by several US congress people to Taiwan.

Apart from the deployment of the armed forces, China accused Washington of seeking confrontation and sanctioned ten Taiwanese officials.

China Daily stressed that for Taipei, the official contacts would lead to a tightening of the military blockade and economic penalties, while US politicians would face sanctions and restrictions on business with this nation.

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