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Taiwan condemned China's plan to hold a naval exercise with Indonesia east of the island, accusing Beijing of trying to create the "false impression" that it has jurisdiction over the surrounding waters.
China's Defense Ministry said Tuesday that a Chinese warship and an Indonesian frigate would conduct a "passage exercise" east of Taiwan in mid-August to strengthen the two navies' joint operational capabilities and "jointly safeguard regional peace and stability."
Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council responded later Tuesday by saying it "strongly condemned the CCP military provocation," referring to the Chinese Communist Party.
"This move is, in reality ... aimed at creating the false impression for the international community that the CCP has jurisdiction over waters east of Taiwan and blatantly infringing upon our national sovereignty and maritime rights and interests," the council said.
China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and says it has authority over waters surrounding the island, a position rejected by Taipei.
Indonesian Navy spokesperson Tunggul said Wednesday that the country's frigate would "conduct passing exercises with the countries it passes through" while returning home from the Russian port city of Vladivostok.
"The passing exercises are not war-fighting in nature but are a universal naval tradition when passing through a country's territorial waters," Tunggul said.
He did not mention China or Taiwan.
China's announcement came as Taiwan conducts its largest annual military drills, aimed at preparing the population for a potential Chinese invasion.
Beijing sends warships, fighter jets and coast guard vessels around Taiwan on an almost daily basis as it asserts its sovereignty claim.
In June, Chinese vessels began patrolling an area of the western Pacific near Taiwan's east coast, a move Taipei described as "provocative" and "expansionism in disguise."
During the operation, for the first time the China Coast Guard radioed cargo ships passing Taiwan to request information about their crews and destinations.
Last week, China's Guangdong Maritime Safety Administration also announced "traffic control measures" for the Taiwan Strait as Typhoon Dolphin approached the region.
Ships entering the waterway from the south were "required to strictly comply with the traffic control regulations, seek shelter in safe waters, and follow the instructions of on-site maritime authorities to ensure safety," according to the Aug. 5 announcement.
Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council called the order a "trampling of the international order and norms" and "utterly ridiculous."
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