On Sunday, Taiwan's military detected a buildup of Chinese forces marshaling along China's Fujian Province, a coastal region bordering the Taiwan Strait, Focus Taiwan reported early Sunday morning.

These Chinese "military exercises," as it's being reported, are being "conducted at Fujian's Dacheng Bay" and feature an "undisclosed numbers of People's Liberation Army's (PLA) warplanes, warships, and ground troops."

Corroborating the claims, Indo-Pacific News reported that the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense on Thursday said that "a total of 20 Chinese aircraft had operated in airspace around Taiwan that day. It added that some had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait."

But on Sunday, Indo-Pacific News noted that "ferries that have been adapted for military amphibious operations are on the move... Either a big exercise... or something 'else'. Need to keep an eye on this!!!"

According to Chieh Chung, an associate research fellow at the National Policy Foundation in Taipei, in the past, the drills conducted by the PLA at Dacheng Bay typically have focused on the exercise of unloading "civilian semi-submersible vessels" to transport military vehicles and troops to designated locations rapidly; the use of these civilian vessels are designed to test the PLA's ability to support joint island landing operations should Taiwan intentionally damage its major ports and docks to deter a Chinese invasion by sea.

On Friday, Taiwanese Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng stated that the reason for publicizing recent Chinese military movements around Taiwan was due to the "abnormity" of the situation. Chiu, however, did not elaborate further.

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