According to officials and security documents, China has shown its strength by sending a large number of coast guard and naval vessels across a wide area of East Asian water. This move has unnerved the regional capitals.

Three regional security officials, as well as documents on regional military activities, have confirmed that China has deployed larger fleets than usual near Taiwan, southern Japanese islands, and the East and South China Seas since early May.

Documents show that on May 21 and 27, China deployed more than 60 ships each time, with around 75 percent of them being naval. The documents show that these included guided-missile destroyers, coast guard boats and destroyers.

Documents show that Beijing has also sent two aircraft carrier groups. The Shandong is now in the South China Sea, a busy waterway, and the Liaoning is off the coast of Taiwan's southeast.

One security official said, "They are exerting a lot of pressure on the entire first island chain due to global geopolitical uncertainty."

This refers to the waters that stretch from Japan, through Taiwan, to the Philippines, and then on to Borneo. These waters surround the coast of China.

Source: "They're trying to consolidate their dominance", the source added, adding that drills conducted this month by Liaoning, China's oldest aircraft carrier, simulated attacks on foreign aircraft and ships in the East China Sea, and Yellow Sea.

A second source who also spoke under condition of anonymity cited the sensitive nature of the intelligence assessment.

The source stated that "China wants to demonstrate these waters are its own and that it can operate whenever and wherever it wants."

The Chinese Ministry of Defence did not reply to a comment request.

LIVE FIRE DRUMS

China has declared several areas for live-fire drills off its coast in the last two weeks, including one that faces southwest Taiwan.

Chinese state TV showed pictures of amphibious exercises in southern Fujian province, just across the Taiwan Strait. However, it did not specify the exact location.

This week Japan tracked the Liaoning with its accompanying warships across the southern Japanese Islands and into the Western Pacific.

Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japan's Chief cabinet secretary, said that China appears to be improving its ability to operate far away from the Chinese coastline.

He told reporters that the Japanese government would keep an eye on any relevant movements and will do everything possible to monitor and conduct surveillance.

Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing said that the activities of these ships were in accordance with international law. Japan should therefore "consider them objectively and rationally".

China's foreign ministry urged the Philippines on Friday to immediately cease "infringement and provocation".

The Philippine Navy spokesperson on South China Sea Issues, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said that China's illegal presence in the maritime zone of Southeast Asian countries "has disturbed the peace in this region and is in contradiction to its pronouncements about its "peaceful ascent".

This spike in Chinese military activities coincides with the anniversaries of Taiwan President Lai Ching-te's first year in office.

China has conducted three major war games in the past year since Lai's inauguration. It calls him a "separatist".

Taiwan's Defence Ministry said on Wednesday that the Liaoning is off the southeast coast of the island, and added that Taiwan will increase its combat readiness in line with threat levels. (Reporting from Yimou Lema and Ben Blanchard, with additional reporting by Joe Cash and Karen Lema at Manila and Kiyoshi Takanaka in Tokyo.)

(source: Reuters)