China to hold military exercises in South China Sea amid tensions

The ministry said it had tracked the PLA fighters with its land-based anti-aircraft missiles and had "strongly driven them out".

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) will hold military exercises in the South China Sea off China's Guangdong province from August 24-29, state-run Global Times reported on Sunday citing the local maritime safety administration.

The upcoming military exercises come at a time when tensions have aggravated in the South China Sea, where China lays its territorial claims in the region and is in a dispute with several countries including Vietnam and the Philippines.

During US Health Secretary Alex Azar's historic visit to Taiwan earlier this month, China deployed fighter jets that briefly crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait, South China