Taiwan raises alert as China deploys 90 ships in likely military drills

Taiwan raised its alert level on Dec 9, saying China has set up seven zones of reserved airspace and deployed naval fleets and coast guard boats in what a security source called the first military drills across a broad swathe of the region's waters.

A senior Taipei security official told Reuters that China currently has nearly 90 navy and coast guard ships in waters near Taiwan, the southern Japanese islands and the East and South China Seas, of which around two-thirds were navy vessels.

China's Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. But Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said China would "firmly defend" its sovereignty and insisted democratically governed Taiwan was an "inalienable" part of its territory.

China had been expected to launch another round of exercises in response to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te's trip to the Pacific, which included stopovers in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam, security sources told Reuters.