China is deploying its largest navy fleet in regional waters in nearly three decades, posing a threat to Taiwan that is more pronounced than previous Chinese war games, the Taiwanese defence ministry said on Tuesday.

Taiwanese authorities said they were seeing “major elements of a military drill” over a vast expanse of air and sea.

China has deployed the largest number of naval ships to regional waters around Taiwan since the mid-1990s, the Defense Ministry in Taipei said Tuesday, amid growing speculation that Beijing has launched another round of war games.