Taiwan on Wednesday dispatched naval, air and land forces in response to China's "live-fire" drills held off the coast of the self-ruled island, its Defense Ministry said, condemning the unexpected exercise.

China's People's Liberation Army "has blatantly violated international norms by unilaterally designating a drill zone 40 NM off the coast of Kaohsiung and Pingtung, claiming to conduct live-fire exercises without prior warning," Taipei said.

Detecting 32 aircraft around Taiwan as part of the Chinese drill, Taiwan's military said it responded by sending forces to "monitor, alert and respond appropriately."

"This move not only caused a high degree of danger to the safety of international flights and vessels at sea, but is also a blatant provocation to regional security and stability," the ministry said. 

China's reunification push

There was no immediate confirmation from China that it was carrying out new drills. The incident comes less than a week after China held another set of live-fire drills off the coast of Australia and New Zealand, surprising the island nations and forcing dozens of commercial flights to change course.

Earlier on Wednesday, China's official Xinhua news agency reported that a high-ranking leader of the ruling Communist Party, Wang Huning, had called this week for greater effort in the cause of Chinese reunification.

China must "firmly grasp the right to dominate and take the initiative in cross-strait relations, and unswervingly push forward the cause of reunification of the motherland", Wang reportedly said.

China has time and again threatened to use force to establish control over Taiwan.

The self-ruled island is a major point of contention between Washington and Beijing. While the US is legally required to provide arms to Taiwan for its defense, it has remained ambiguous about sending its own military if required.

Edited by Zac Crellin