The arrest on the island of Menghu comes amid China's ongoing mass military drills at several locations encircling Taiwan's main island. A statement says the man attempted to cross to the small island, which is only a few miles off the coast of China, in a rubber dinghy.

Taiwan detected 153 aircraft surrounding its territory as China carried out massive military exercises, according to the self-ruled island’s defence ministry. The “surge in warplane activity” saw a record number of aircraft spotted in the 25 hours to 6am on Tuesday (22:00 GMT,

People look at a giant screen showing news footage of military drills conducted in the Taiwan Strait and areas to the north, south and east of Taiwan, by the Eastern Theatre Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA),

China’s armed forces held more drills around Taiwan that they said were intended as a warning to halt “separatist acts” — a move coming just after the archipelago’s president vowed to stand up to challenges from Beijing.

China launched military exercises around Taiwan as part of what it called a 'stern warning' against 'separatist acts by Taiwan independent forces.'

Taiwan was a Japanese colony before being unified with China at the end of World War II. It split away in 1949 when Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists fled to the island as Mao Zedo

The Chinese military said the exercises, which will simulate strikes on land and at sea, would serve as “a stern warning” to “Taiwan independence forces.”

Thousands of U.S. and Filipino troops launched joint exercises as Taiwan detected a record 153 Chinese military aircraft around the self-ruled island.