China will conduct military drills in the South China Sea on Thursday, less than a week after a U.S. Navy destroyer sailed near disputed islands claimed by Beijing in the region.
The Japan Times reported that China's Maritime Safety Administration announced the planned day-long military exercises in a brief statement Wednesday. The country ordered non-military vessels to stay away from a designated section of the sea south of Hainan island and northwest of the disputed Paracel Islands.
The U.S. Navy on Friday sailed a warship close to the Paracel Islands, which are also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam but occupied by China. The operation was conducted "in a routine, lawful manner without ship escorts and without incident" and "demonstrated that coastal states may not unlawfully restrict the navigation rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea," a Navy spokesman said last week.
The United States has periodically sailed warships close to disputed territories in the South China Sea in exercise of freedom of navigation, drawing ire from Beijing. The U.S. operations have abided by the rules of "innocent passage," meaning that the warships do not sail within 12 nautical miles of disputed territories.
Some U.S. officials have accused China of "militarizing" the South China Sea by building up artificial islands and constructing air strips and reinforced hangars on some disputed features.
China lays claim to most of the South China Sea, though an international tribunal ruled in July that Beijing's territorial claims have no legal or historical basis. China has rejected the ruling, despite efforts by the U.S. and other regional powers urging Beijing to accept it.
China periodically holds military drills in the South China Sea, including recent joint exercises with Russia in September.