TAIPEI — China has set up a zone for "shooting" drills in the southwestern part of the Taiwan Strait, off the major population centres of Kaohsiung and Pingtung, without giving any prior notice, Taiwan's government said — a move it condemned as dangerous, provocative and a threat to commercial flights and shipping in one of the world's busiest sea lanes.

Source: Reuters

In its daily morning update on Chinese military activity over the previous 24 hours, Taiwan's defence ministry said it had detected 45 Chinese military aircraft and 14 navy ships operating around the island, including seven ships inside the Chinese-declared drill zone, which lies 40 nautical miles off Taiwan. An accompanying map released by the ministry showed the zone was about 70 nautical miles long and 20 nautical miles wide, though well outside Taiwan's territorial waters.

45Chinese military aircraft detected around Taiwan in 24 hours
14Chinese navy ships operating around the island
7Ships inside the declared drill zone
40 nautical milesDistance of the zone from Taiwan's coast

No live fire detected, officials say

Two senior Taiwanese officials, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation, said Taiwan did not detect any live-fire shooting inside China's drill zone and that there had been no further escalation of military tensions. They said the Chinese move was very similar to Beijing's other recent military activity in the region, such as in the South China Sea and off Australia's coast, where China's navy did not give adequate notice of its exercises.

"This is extremely rare and exceeds general expectations," one of the officials said, referring to China running exercises without prior warning. "Allies are exchanging ideas," the official added. "The democratic camp must do some risk management for our defence." China has yet to comment on the drill zone.

Democratically governed Taiwan is viewed by China as its own territory, a claim Taipei's government rejects. Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control and has stepped up military and political pressure around Taiwan in recent years, including large-scale exercises and near-daily air and naval activity across the strait.

For now, the episode underlines how quickly an unannounced drill zone can raise the temperature in the strait even without a shot being fired: Taiwan says its forces monitored the activity and responded as shipping and airlines were left to work around a danger area they had not been warned about.