The US has previously lambasted Beijing over its “provocative militarisation” of the contested region.
Things went up a notch on Tuesday when Taiwan began the first of six tests on cruise missiles capable of striking targets the Chinese coast and further inland.
They began just a day after China revealed it had conducted an amphibious landing exercise as part of its month-long drills in the South China Sea.
All this comes as the UK’s £3billion flagship aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth is expected to pass through the hotly disputed South China Sea.
Taiwan s military on exercise (Image: Getty)
HMS Queen Elizabeth is due to pass through the area shortly (Image: Getty)
The mission was the first dual-carrier operation to take place in the South China Sea since last July.
The presence of US forces in the contested waters also comes just days after the USS John S McCain destroyer sailed near to the Paracel Islands.
The US navy said the vessels were conducting a “freedom of navigation operation” in order to maintain peace in the region.
Most notably it was also the first time a US operation had taken place in the waterways since Joe Biden was inaugurated as US President.
The Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group was deployed to the South China Sea (Image: GETTY)