BEIJING—China is carrying out more than a week of military drills in the South China Sea in an area between its southern province of Hainan and Vietnam, the Chinese regime announced, warning shipping to stay away. The Chinese regime claims a large part of the disputed waterway, on which major shipping lanes lie, and has built artificial islands and airfields on some of its reefs and islets, to widespread concern in the region and in the United States. In a statement late on Friday, the Hainan Maritime Safety Administration said the drills would start from the same day and last until March 15. It provided coordinates for an area roughly halfway between Hainan’s Sanya and the Vietnamese city of Hue. Sanya is home to a major Chinese naval base. “Entering prohibited,” it said in a Chinese and English language statement on its website. Part of the area is well within …