China holds live-fire drills on island closest to Taiwan

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.

But recently, other US allies, including Canada, Germany, Australia and Japan have been joining these patrols as part of what are called “high-visibility” operations.

The most recent was over the weekend, when the US and Canada sailed their warships through the waters.

Analysts say this represents increased signalling from China and the US. While Beijing is emphasising its claims over Taiwan, Washignton is making clear it’s support for the island.

A US official, however, told the BBC that Washington is keen on lowering tensions with Beijing given the US’s current focus on conflicts in the Middle East and Europe.

But the longer-term threat for the US still comes from China, the official said.

Last Monday, Beijing deployed a record number of 153 military aircraft, as well as warships and coast guard vessels to encircle Taiwan in an exercise designed to simulate an attack by land, sea and air.

This followed Taiwanese President William Lai’s National Day speech on 10 October, where he pledged to “resist annexation or encroachment upon [Taiwan’s] sovereignty”.

China and Taiwan are “not subordinate to each other”, he said, adding that China “has no right to represent Taiwan”.

China has repeatedly vowed to take Taiwan by force if necessary. It has long seen Lai as a “troublemaker” advocating for Taiwan’s independence.