FEATURE | Chinese jets threaten Japanese aircraft during naval drills

On Sunday, Taiwan's coast guard said it was monitoring drills by three Chinese maritime safety ships on the western side of the Taiwan Strait's median line but that the situation in the waters surrounding Taiwan was "normal".

Chinese state media said the search-and-rescue drills were in the central waters of the strait, patrolling "high-traffic areas, and areas with frequent accidents".

Taiwan's coast guard said China was using "misleading and false wording" about what it was doing, with the aim of harassing Taiwan and carrying out psychological warfare.

China says it alone exercises sovereignty and jurisdiction over the strait, a major trade route for about half of global container ships. The United States and Taiwan say the strait is an international waterway.

(Reporting by Tim Kelly, Nobuhiro Kubo and Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo, and David Kirton in Shenzhen; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei and Ahmed Aboulenein in Washington; Editing by Diane Craft and William Mallard)