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 China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own and has never renounced
the use of force to bring the democratic island under its rule.
Defeated Nationalist forces fled to Taiwan after losing a civil war
with the Communists in 1949.
Ties have generally improved under Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou,
who has signed a series of landmark trade and economic pacts with
China, but deep suspicions remain on either side.
In a brief statement on Thursday, China's Maritime Safety
Administration gave coordinates just off the coast of the Chinese
port city of Quanzhou for the exercises, which will finish on
Sunday. It gave no other details.
 Taiwan's Defence Ministry said they were aware of the annual drills,
which the ministry described as routine.
Quanzhou lies between two small groups of islands, Kinmen and
Wu-chiu, that have been controlled by Taiwan since 1949. Another
group, the Matsu islands, are slightly further up the coast near the
Chinese city of Fuzhou.
The Taiwan-controlled islets were once heavily fortified and at the
frontlines of the cold war between China and Taiwan. Troop numbers
have been cut drastically in recent years as cross-strait ties have
improved.
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Taiwan's military began five days of drills this week, including on
Kinmen. On Tuesday, the exercises simulated Chinese submarines
attacking Kinmen but being repelled by Taiwanese amphibious forces.
Taiwan's military has warned that China is building two new aircraft
carriers and has practiced attacks on targets modeled on places in
Taiwan.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by J.R. Wu in
TAIPEI and Yimou Lee in KINMEN, Taiwan; Editing by Paul Tait)
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