FEATURE | China massing military ships across region in show of maritime force

Their accounts were corroborated by intelligence reports from a country in the region, which detailed the deployment. Reuters reviewed the reports on condition it did not name the country.

As of Thursday morning, there are more than 90 Chinese ships operating in the region, coming down from more than 100 at one point earlier this week, the documents showed.

The operations exceed China's mass naval deployment in December last year that prompted Taiwan to raise its alert level, the sources said.

Tsai Ming-yen, Director-General of Taiwan's National Security Bureau, said on Wednesday that China is now in what is generally the most active season for its military drills.

As of Wednesday morning, China has four naval formations operating in the western Pacific, and Taiwan is keeping tabs on them, Tsai said, without giving details.