Chinese combat planes and warships practiced bombing runs and drills off Taiwan on Tuesday at the start of eight days of war games meant to dampen pro-independence sentiment on the island.
Taiwan warned it would hit back hard if attacked and placed its military on alert. Police across the island readied bomb shelters for the public.The Taiwanese Defense Ministry said the exercise began at about noon and that the Chinese jets and ships stayed on China's side of the Taiwan Straits separating the island and mainland.
About 10 Chinese ships conducted formation drills, and about 10 warplanes practiced air cover, surveillance and bombing runs near Dongshan and Nan Ao, on China's southeastern coast, the ministry reported.
Bad weather apparently prevented more aircraft from participating, the ministry said. China has said it will fire live ammunition, but the Taiwanese statement did not confirm it was being used.
The United States moved warships and aircraft carriers closer to Taiwan in case the drills become more than menacing exercises. China accused Washington on Tuesday of conniving with Taiwanese separatists.
There are no indications, however, that China or Taiwan is eager for war.
China's air and sea maneuversfollow its test-firing of three missiles near Taiwan on Friday. They are taking place in a 6,600-square-mile rectangle that stretches to the midpoint of the Taiwan Straits - about 30 to 70 miles from the southwest Taiwanese islands of Quemoy and Wuchiu.
The show of force is part of a Chinese campaign to intimidate Taiwan into dropping what Beijing believes is a secret campaign to abandon the doctrine that China and Taiwan are one country.
China timed the exercises to precede Taiwan's first direct presidential election on March 23. The Chinese fear that the increasing democratization of the island and attempts to raise its international profile jeopardize reunification.
China maintains Taiwan is a renegade province and Tuesday repeated its determination to use force, if necessary, to reunify the island with the mainland. Taiwan also espouses reunification, but China is convinced its president, Lee Teng-hui, wants to make the island independent.
The announcement that the war games had begun was reported on Taiwan radio and TV during rush hour. It seemed to have no effect on the traffic-clogged streets of Taipei, where people have had months to get used to Chinese missile tests and war games.
A U.S. State Department official said the United States is holding close consultations, including military-to-military contacts, with Beijing to make sure the presence of U.S. ships is not misconstrued.