Beijing fires four warning missiles

China launched four missiles into the South China Sea as a warning to the US military in the region, further escalating tensions between the two nuclear-armed powers.

The People’s Liberation Army fired the medium-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday as Beijing held military exercises in the waterway, Bloomberg News reported, citing a US defense official.

The rockets landed in the sea between China’s southern Hainan Island and the Paracel Islands, off the coast of Vietnam, near where US aircraft carriers have been conducting drills over the past several weeks as part of the Trump administration’s challenge to Chinese claims in the area.

The Chinese Defense Ministry on Thursday said the exercises weren’t aimed at any particular nation. It didn’t address the missile launches, but Wu Qian, a spokesman, accused “some US politicians” of trying to instigate a conflict.

China, which fired more than 100 ballistic missiles last year, has been testing its operational capacity and modernizing its arsenal since President Xi Jinping rolled out a new PLA Rocket Force last October.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper, speaking in Hawaii Wednesday, said China is using the modernization program to project its military power.

The secretary said the US military would respond to any threats.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced sanctions and travel bans against several Chinese officials and business executives for their roles in militarizing areas of the South China Sea, including building artificial islands.