Beijing: China has held a live-fire drill in the Taiwan Strait, with Chinese media reporting the aim was to "deter separatists" and "draw a red line to the US and Taiwan".
However Taiwan's president, Tsai Ing-wen, who has drawn the ire of Beijing since taking office in May 2016, was not in the country as the naval drill started on Wednesday.
Taiwan accused Beijing of sabre rattling, and Taiwan's military chiefs downplayed China's People's Liberation Army's exercise, which is the first live fire drill in the Taiwan Strait since Tsai took office.
Tsai left for her first official visit to Africa a day earlier, arriving in Swaziland, one of the few nations to offer Taiwan diplomatic recognition. She presented King Mswati III with five cows.
Taiwan's National Security Council chief was also travelling in Swaziland, but told Taiwanese media he would monitor the drill situation.
The drill was held 65 kilometres off Taiwan's Kinmen Island.
Taiwan's cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung told Taiwan Central News Agency on Wednesday morning this was a regular drill by China, on a small scale, in the same place that previous drills had been held.
However, in China, state media played up the imminent naval exercise.
China's hawkish Global Times newspaper ran front page headlines on Wednesday morning saying: "PLA drill draws red line to the US and Taiwan" and "Delivers resolution of safeguarding sovereignty and demonstrates strength of armed unification".
China Daily ran opinions from experts who said the drill was to "deter separatists".
Li Zhenguang from the Institute of Taiwan Studies said cross-straits relations were at a low ebb and the drill on Wednesday was the mainland's response to "those seeking 'independence' of the island".
"The military drill sends a message to the US that it should stop backing the separatists on the island," he said.
Military expert Wang Xiaoxuan told China Daily the fact the drill had only been announced by the provincial Fujian Maritime Safety Administration, and not a higher level authority, "indicate the mainland is treating the situation rationally".
Tsai's Democratic Progressive Party is independence-leaning, and premier William Lai declared to parliament earlier this month he was a "Taiwan independence worker".
Adding to tensions with China, the US has passed a Taiwan Travel Act that encourages visits by US officials to Taiwan. China has complained that this violates the long-standing One China policy.
Donald Trump's pick for US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, last week said he supported continuing US arms sales to Taiwan.
A week ago, Chinese president Xi Jinping presided over China's largest-ever naval drill, held in the South China Sea. It involved China's only aircraft carrier, 48 ships, 76 helicopters, fighter jets and bombers, and 10,000 personnel.
Taiwan held its own naval review a day later, inspected by Tsai, to demonstrate the island's combat readiness.
In a speech to China's annual parliament last month, Xi issued a veiled warning to supporters of Taiwan independence, saying "all acts and tricks to split the motherland are doomed to failure and will be condemned by the people and punished by history".
"Safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity and realising the complete reunification of the motherland are the common aspirations of all the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation."
By Wednesday afternoon, no details of the Taiwan Strait drill had been released in Chinese media.
