Taiwan has urged its citizens to remain calm after a Chinese aircraft carrier entered the Taiwan Strait in a highly symbolic show of strength.
Taiwan's defence ministry reported on Wednesday that China's Liaoning aircraft carrier and accompanying naval vessels had gone into an area covered by the island's air defence zone at 07:00 local time (23:00 GMT).
Taiwanese media stated that F-16 fighter jets and other aircraft were dispatched to monitor the Chinese carrier group.
"The military is monitoring the whole situation and will act as necessary. We urge Taiwan's people to be at ease," the defence ministry said in a statement.
The Liaoning, a refitted Russian-made carrier, made its first live-fire exercise earlier this month in the Yellow Sea, the Bohai Sea and East China Sea.
By midday the aircraft carrier was moving north along the mainland's coast, the ministry added.
"There is no need for us to overly panic," the chairwoman of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), which handles the island's relationship with Beijing, stated.
China has upped its military drills near the island in recent weeks after being incensed by a congratulatory phone call from Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen to US President-elect Donald Trump, and by a subsequent transit stop by Tsai in the United States.
It was the first such contact with Taiwan by a US president-elect or president since Jimmy Carter adopted the "one China" policy in 1979 and broke off formal diplomatic relations with the island.
The development comes while Tsai is visiting Nicaragua as part of a four-nation tour in Central America.
While the focus of her visit is to bolster ties with allies, her US stopovers are being closely watched with speculation she may make contact with Trump and his team.
Al Jazeera's Rob McBride, reporting from Beijing, said this comes on a significant day as China releases its white paper on how to maintain peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific.
"China has said there is nothing worrisome or intimidating about deploying the Liaoning, but Taiwan believes it is more than a threat," he stated.
McBride added that Tsai has been accused of failing to reign in those in Taiwan who have been calling for independence.
China has conflicting claims to parts of the South China Sea with Taiwan and several countries in Southeast Asia, and to an island chain in the East China Sea with Japan.
Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province to be brought back into its fold. the United States is the island's most powerful ally and main arms supplier, despite having no official diplomatic relations since recognising Beijing in 1979.
Aljazeera