China begins two days of live-fire drills in Taiwan Strait

BEIJING, July 23 (Reuters) - ‌China began ​two ​days of live-fire drills from Thursday in some parts of the Taiwan Strait near the ‌shores of its southeastern province of Fujian.

The news ⁠comes a day after talks between U.S. Secretary of State ‌Marco Rubio and Chinese Foreign ‌Minister Wang Yi on a range of issues, including democratically governed Taiwan, which China claims as its ​own territory.

The drills will run from 6.00 a.m. to 6 p.m. (2200 GMT to 1000 GMT) each ⁠day around Dongshan Island, bordering the province of Guangdong, maritime authorities said ​in a notice.

Taiwan's foreign ministry on Thursday condemned China's actions and called on Beijing to ​exercise "rational self-restraint" and "immediately cease its ‌military provocations and gray-zone intrusions."

"China has disregarded the international community's shared aspirations for regional ⁠security, further unilaterally using military force to threaten the waters surrounding the Taiwan Strait, creating regional tensions, and once ⁠again confirming its nature as a troublemaker," the island's foreign ministry ​said in a statement.

China held its most extensive war games encircling Taiwan in December, after the United States unveiled a record $11.1 ‌billion arms package for the island, whose government rejects China's sovereignty claim.

During 10 hours ‌of live-fire exercises at the time, China's Eastern Theatre ⁠Command launched rockets into ‌waters north and ​south of Taiwan.

(Reporting by Liz Lee and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Clarence ‌Fernandez)

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