An MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter lands aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in the South China Sea, Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023, as Nimitz in U.S. 7th Fleet was conducting operations. The 7th Fleet based in Japan said Sunday that the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit have been conducting “integrated expeditionary strike force operations” in the South China Sea. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Justin McTaggart/U.S. Navy via AP)

BEIJING (AP) — The United States Navy and Marine Corps are holding drills in the South China Sea at a time of heightened tensions with Beijing over the shooting down of a suspected Chinese spy balloon. The 7th Fleet based in Japan says the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit have been conducting “integrated expeditionary strike force operations” in the South China Sea. It says exercises took place Saturday but gave no details on when they began or whether they had ended. China claims virtually the entire South China Sea and strongly objects to military activity by other nations in the contested waterway through which an estimated $5 trillion in goods are shipped every year.