China will set up a brief no-fly zone north of Taiwan on Sunday due to what the island's transport ministry described as "space activities".

The closure comes after Beijing completed three days of massive war games around self-ruled Taiwan last week, during which China simulated targeted strikes and practised a blockade of the island.

The no-fly zone does not appear to be linked to the drills, with Taiwan's transport ministry saying on Wednesday China had imposed the restriction "on the convergence areas of many international routes" on the grounds of "space activities".

The restrictions will be in place from 9:30 am to 9:57 am (0130 to 0157 GMT) on Sunday.

The transport ministry said China had initially announced a three-day closure but revised it following objections from Taipei.

The ministry had informed China "this unreasonable designation will bring huge and unnecessary flight risks to the region, and damage the rights and interests of international aviation", it said.

Taiwan's Lieutenant General Yen Yu-hsien said the no-fly zone was within Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ).

"It's around 85 nautical miles off the north of Taiwan," he told a news briefing.

"In the north, there are many international flight routes, including to Japan, Korea and the US."

Japan's top government spokesperson said Tokyo had also been notified of the no-fly zone.

"Chinese authorities notified us of the designation of an area that may affect the safety of aircraft flights for aerospace activities from April 16 to 18," Hirokazu Matsuno said.

China's defence ministry and civil aviation authority did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Beijing's space ambitions have become increasingly bold in recent years, successfully landing a rover on Mars, bringing samples back from the Moon and planning a lunar space station with Russia.

– War games –

Taiwan has been on high alert since China launched its military drills on Saturday.

The exercises ended on Monday when Beijing sent 54 aircraft into the island's southwestern and southeastern ADIZ — the highest recorded in a single day since October 2021.

The zone is not the same as Taiwan's territorial airspace and includes a far greater area that overlaps with part of China's own ADIZ and even some of the mainland.

J15 fighter jets flown off China's Shandong aircraft carrier were among the aircraft that crossed the median line, an unofficial boundary in the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan's defence ministry said.

The ministry also said eight warships and 35 aircraft were detected between Tuesday and Wednesday morning, after the war games ended.

Xi says China must strengthen training for 'actual combat'
Beijing (AFP) April 12, 2023 –

China's President Xi Jinping called on the country's armed forces to "strengthen military training oriented towards actual combat", state media reported Wednesday, after Beijing conducted military drills intended to intimidate Taiwan.

Xi's comments, made on a naval inspection trip on Tuesday, come amid heightened tension in the region after the show of force by Beijing, which sees self-ruled Taiwan as its territory.

China on Monday concluded three days of military drills launched in response to a visit last week by Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen to the United States, where she met a bipartisan group of lawmakers and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Xi on Tuesday told the People's Liberation Army's Southern Theatre Command Navy that the military must "resolutely defend China's territorial sovereignty and maritime interests, and strive to protect overall peripheral stability", state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Beijing has also criticised a plan for US forces to use a growing number of bases in the Philippines, including one near Taiwan.

The United States and the Philippines are holding their largest-ever joint military drills this week, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken committing to "standing with the Philippines against any intimidation or coercion, including in the South China Sea".

Xi added Tuesday that China must be "innovative in its concepts and methods of combat".

– Disputed waters –

China and Taiwan split following a civil war in 1949.

Beijing views the democratic island as part of its territory and has vowed to take it one day, stepping up its rhetoric and military activity around the island in recent years.

The PLA simulated targeted strikes and a blockade of Taiwan during its recent three-day "Joint Sword" exercise.

Taiwan's defence ministry said it continued to detect Chinese warships and aircraft around the island even after drills officially concluded.

Beijing warned this week that Taiwanese independence and cross-strait peace were "mutually exclusive", blaming Taipei and unnamed "foreign forces" supporting it for the tensions.

Washington has been deliberately ambiguous on whether it would defend Taiwan militarily.

It has, however, sold weapons to Taipei for decades to help ensure its self-defence, and offered political support.

China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea — a strategic waterway through which trillions of dollars in trade pass annually — despite an international court ruling that the assertion has no legal basis.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei all have overlapping claims in the sea, while the United States sends naval vessels through it to assert freedom of navigation rights in international waters.