More than 100 vessels counted

Taiwan has reported more than 100 Chinese navy and coastguard vessels operating across the western Pacific, in what analysts say may be a major unannounced military exercise simulating the isolation of Taiwan.

Joseph Wu, secretary-general of Taiwan's National Security Council, said on Tuesday that over 100 People's Liberation Army Navy and China Coast Guard vessels were operating in the region. He published a map showing two main concentrations: four task forces drawn from three Chinese theatre commands operating between Taiwan and Guam, including the Liaoning carrier strike group, and a second group of coastguard and navy vessels surrounding Taiwan.

Air activity also surges

Taiwan's defence ministry counted 49 Chinese military aircraft sorties around the island on 2 November, an unusually high number, including 36 sorties south of Taiwan. Satellite imagery from the same day showed China's newest aircraft carrier, the Fujian, leaving its base at Sanya on Hainan island and heading east, possibly towards southern Taiwan.

The Institute for the Study of War, a US research group, said the scale and range of the deployments suggested China may be conducting a major exercise simulating surrounding and isolating Taiwan. It said the coordination of surface forces from three theatre commands was rare and the deployment was larger than China's most recent exercise around Taiwan, Justice Mission 2025.

No announcement from Beijing

China has not announced a major military exercise, a departure from recent practice, according to the institute. It said the lack of an announcement may be intended to create the impression that China's navy can isolate Taiwan at will.

Taiwan's government has said the island is staying vigilant and will neither provoke nor yield to pressure. China has not commented publicly on the scale of the deployment.