The Chinese military has begun two months of live-fire naval drills off the mainland's northern coast.
- PLA will have 11 weeks of naval exercises off the coast of Tangshan
- all other vessels are banned from a 15 mile radius of the drill area
The increased activity of US Navy ships in the area is thought to be a response.
The background to mainland China - Taiwan issues recently is that in 2016 China completely suspended official exchanges with Taiwan, as part of its (mainland China's) one-China policy - ie. Taiwan is a province not a separate state.
Regardless, its another indication of the ramping up of US-China tensions in addition to the trade war simmering away.
