Taiwan's military raised its alert on Monday and set up an emergency response center. It said that China had set up seven reserved zones of airspace, and sent naval fleets and Coast Guard boats to the waters around Taiwan.

Security sources said that China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan to be its territory, was expected to launch a new round of exercises to respond to Taiwan President Lai Ching Te's Pacific trip, which included stops in Hawaii and U.S. territory Guam.

Taiwan's Defence Ministry said that China has created seven "temporary reserve areas" in its airspace east of the eastern Fujian and Zhejiang Provinces. These zones are valid between Monday and Wednesday.

According to international regulations, these zones are reserved for a specific user and assigned during a specified period. However, other flights may pass through them with the permission of controllers.

The Chinese Ministry of Defence did not respond immediately to a comment request.

According to a Taipei-based security source, China has around 90 navy and Coast Guard ships, with two thirds of them being navy vessels, in the waters surrounding Taiwan, southern Japanese islands, and the East and South China Seas.

Taiwan's military has said that it has activated "combat readiness exercise" at strategic places and that its naval and Coast Guard boats are closely watching Chinese military activities.

Taiwan's Defence Ministry said that any unilateral, irrational and provocative action could harm peace and stability throughout the Indo-Pacific region. This would not be welcomed by the international public.

In a separate announcement, Taiwan's Coast Guard said that seven Chinese coastguard ships had been "grey zone harassment" the island earlier in the morning.

The coast guard stated that China has no right to conduct any intrusions or law enforcement activities in Taiwanese waters and Taipei is entitled to respond in any way necessary.

Taiwan claims that China is using tactics called "grey zones" to test and pressurize Taiwanese troops. These include daily air force and naval missions around the island, and regular coastguard patrols.

China has repeatedly rejected Lai's calls for dialogue, calling him a "separatist". Lai and his Government reject Beijing's claims of sovereignty, saying that only Taiwanese people can determine their future. Reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei and Yimou Le, with editing by Kim Coghill Jamie Freed Saad Sayeed

(source: Reuters)