China held a live-firing exercise from its territory closest to Taiwan one week after it launched a large-scale drill encircling the island.
Chinese military drills off the Taiwanese coast have intensified in recent years as its claims over the self-governed island have grown.
Beijing announced late on Monday that an area around Niushan – an island 105km (66 miles) from Taiwan – will be closed for drills for four hours from 09:00 local time (01:00 GMT) on Tuesday.
Taiwan’s premier Cho Jung-tai said on Tuesday that China should not be conducting such exercises given their threat to regional stability.
“No matter how large the scale of the drill is, they should not be frequent and close to Taiwan,” he told reporters. “This will only cause unnecessary tension.”
Although Taipei has called the drills routine, analysts believe China is likely sending a message given their proximity to Taiwan.
The exercises are also part of a wider campaign, which has seen Chinese ships and planes regularly cross into Taiwanese territory and airspace – a grey zone warfare tactic intended to normalise the incursions and weaken Taiwan over a prolonged period.
As the Chinese drills have intensified, so have manoeuvres by Taiwan’s allies, mainly the United States.
For decades, the US Pacific fleet was the only foreign navy that regularly transited the Taiwan Strait that separates the two sides to assert its freedom of navigation.
