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Beijing announces drill in South China Sea as US official reports missile sighting

  • The Chinese maritime safety agency says it has closed an area of the South China Sea for a five-day military exercise
  • US official tells NBC that ‘concerning’ missile testing is taking place during the same period

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The drill was announced by China’s maritime safety agency, on Woody Island. Photo: Handout

China said it was conducting a military drill over the South China Sea as tensions between Beijing and the waters’ other claimants continued to simmer.

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The maritime safety agency in Sansha – on Woody Island, known as Yongxing Island in China, the largest of the disputed Paracel Islands – said it had closed an area of the sea for a five-day military drill near the Spratly Islands from Saturday.

Sailing into the area, near Macclesfield Bank and Spratly Bank, was prohibited during that period, it said. Macclesfield Bank, called the Zhongsha Islands in China, is an underwater atoll also claimed by the Philippines.

The announcement coincided with US reports that China had been conducting a series of anti-ship ballistic missile tests in the South China Sea.

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American broadcaster NBC News reported on Tuesday that Chinese military personnel had carried out the first of the missile tests over the weekend, firing at least one missile into the sea.

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