China has been conducting exercises near Taiwan

On July 20, the Chinese Maritime Administration announced that the country’s military would hold a live-fire drill in the Pearl River estuary and Van Son archipelago in Guangdong province, north of the East Sea.

Experts believe that the above exercise is a response to the landing of an L100-30 transport aircraft, believed to be from a front company of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), on Taiwan island on Tuesday.

Location of Chinese military exercises held on July 20 (marked in red).

A US Air Force C-146A transport also landed on the island of Taiwan on July 15, a move criticized by China as a provocative act and `sending the wrong signal to separatist forces on the island.`

One day after the C-146A landed on Taiwan Island, the Chinese navy and army held landing exercises to capture the island in the waters off the coast of Fujian province, along the Taiwan Strait.

On July 16, the Chinese military also held exercises in the East China Sea area off the coast of Zhejiang province, not far from the northern entrance of the Taiwan Strait.

Exercises in the Bohai Strait and Yellow Sea area were also held by the Chinese military on July 18-August 1, according to a movement restriction notice from the China Maritime Administration.

Two helicopters belonging to China’s Eastern Theater Command practiced low flying along the coast on June 9.

Xu Guangyu, senior advisor to the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association, said that the Chinese military’s recent tough statements and intensive military exercises are a response to `the Chinese military’s recent military exercises`.

`The US’s moves pose very high risks because the country is entering a red line and China must act,` Xu said.

However, a Chinese military expert said the country’s military exercises may be planned in advance, not a direct response to the landings of US transport aircraft on Taiwan island.

China has always considered Taiwan a province awaiting reunification and declared its readiness to use force if necessary.

Tensions between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have escalated over the past year, when the Chinese military repeatedly sent military aircraft close to the island.