China Turns Up the Heat on Taiwan With Live-Fire Drills

China said it would carry out live-fire military drills in the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, the latest in a recent drumbeat of military activity that has once again heightened tensions in the region.

Tuesday’s drills come a week after the Chinese military launched record-setting exercises aimed at showing a potential blockade of Taiwan. They also follow a transit through the strait on Sunday by American and Canadian warships, in what a Chinese military spokesman called an attempt at “stirring hype” and “undermining peace and stability.”

The live-fire drills are expected to take place for four hours around China’s Niushan Island, the closest point between mainland China and Taiwan, and about 100 miles from Taipei. Drills were also scheduled at another location farther north. They were announced by the local Maritime Safety Administration in Fuzhou, the Chinese city that oversees Niushan.

Taiwan appeared to downplay the significance of the drills. The island’s premier, Cho Jung-tai, told reporters in Taipei on Tuesday that the exercises were a pointless threat.

“No matter the scale of the exercises, there should not be such meaningless shows frequently or near to Taiwan,” he said. “This will only cause sudden and unnecessary tension.”