China began drills in the South China Sea on Tuesday amid a likely visit to Taiwan by Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.

According to the China Maritime Security Administration, the exercises will last until August 6, TASS reported.

From 00:00 on August 2 to 24:00 on August 6, military exercises will be conducted in part of the South China Sea, the ministry said in a statement. Entrance to the specified area, the coordinates of which are indicated on the site, is prohibited, the document says.

In turn, the Maritime Security Administration of the city of Dalian (Liaoning Province, Northeast China) reported that from 14:00 on August 1 to 24:00 on August 4, live-fire exercises will be held in the northern part of the Bohai Bay, entry into the specified area is prohibited.

These are not the only exercises China is conducting at sea these days. On Friday last week, China began exercises in four areas of the South China Sea in the waters of Guangdong and Hainan. On Saturday, live-fire exercises were held in the waters of the eastern province of Fujian, which is shared by the strait with Taiwan.