China held a live-fire exercise from its territory closest to Taiwan a week after launching a large-scale exercise encircling the island.
Chinese military exercises off Taiwan's coast have intensified in recent years as its claims to the self-governing island have grown.
Beijing announced late Monday that an area around Niushan – an island 105 km (66 miles) from Taiwan – would be closed to exercises for four hours starting at 9 a.m. local time (0100 GMT) on Tuesday.
Taiwanese Prime Minister Cho Jung-tai said on Tuesday that China should not conduct such exercises given their threat to regional stability.
“No matter how large the exercises are, they should not be frequent or close to Taiwan,” he told reporters. “This will only cause unnecessary tension.”
Although Taipei has called the exercises routine, analysts say China is likely sending a message given its proximity to Taiwan.
The exercises are also part of a broader campaign, in which Chinese ships and aircraft regularly cross Taiwanese territory and airspace – a gray zone warfare tactic intended to normalize incursions and weaken Taiwan on a prolonged period.
As Chinese exercises have intensified, so have maneuvers by Taiwan's allies, primarily the United States.
For decades, the US Pacific Fleet was the only foreign navy to regularly transit the Taiwan Strait which separates the two sides to assert its freedom of navigation.
But recently, other U.S. allies, including Canada, Germany, Australia and Japan, have joined these patrols in what are called “high visibility” operations.
The most recent was this weekend, when the United States and Canada sailed their warships into the waters.
Analysts say this represents an increased signal from China and the United States. While Beijing is accentuating its claims on Taiwan, Washington is clearly asserting its support for the island.
A US official, however, told the BBC that Washington wanted to reduce tensions with Beijing given the current US focus on conflicts in the Middle East and Europe.
But the long-term threat to the United States still comes from China, the official said.
Last Monday, Beijing deployed a record 153 military aircraft, as well as warships and coast guard vessels, to encircle Taiwan in an exercise aimed at simulating a land, sea and air attack.
This followed Taiwanese President William Lai's National Day speech on October 10 in which he pledged to “resist annexation or encroachment on (Taiwan's) sovereignty.”
China and Taiwan “are not subordinate to each other,” he said, adding that China “does not have the right to represent Taiwan.”
China has repeatedly promised to take Taiwan by force if necessary. He has long viewed Lai as a “troublemaker” advocating Taiwan independence.
