China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has held a number of live-fire drills, including a “confrontational exercise” by the Shandong aircraft carrier group, in the South China Sea as a U.S. carrier operates in the area. The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that a strike group led by the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz has been in the South China Sea since last week and conducted “maritime strike training, anti-submarine operations, integrated multi-domain and joint training between surface and air elements, and flight operations with fixed and rotary wing aircraft.” Soon after the U.S. strike group made its entrance, the PLA Navy conducted a series of drills in the South China Sea, including a “combat exercise” by the Shandong aircraft carrier group.