TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — China’s Guangdong Maritime Bureau on Monday (July 26) announced that the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) will conduct an exercise in the South China Sea.

In a statement on its official website, the bureau said the training maneuver will be held in the waters between Guangdong’s Shangchuan Island and the South China Sea on July 27 at 6:00 p.m. and will last until July 29 at 10:00 p.m.

The announcement came as U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman met with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng (謝鋒) on Monday. At the meeting, Xie told Sherman that bilateral relations are “now in a stalemate" and face "serious difficulties,” according to a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release.

The PLAN previously carried out a six-day drill from July 17-21 in the East China Sea, off the coast of Zhejiang Province. The sequestered training area was only 243 kilometers away from Taiwan.