A real Chinese blockade of Taiwan would be an act of war and have far-reaching consequences for international trade, Defence Minister Wellington Koo said on Wednesday after drills by China last week practiced such a scenario.

Taiwan's government offered rare details on Tuesday of its wartime food plan, saying it is taking monthly inventories of crucial supplies like rice and making sure they are properly stored across the island in case of a Chinese blockade.

TAIPEI >> Taiwan’s government offered rare details on Tuesday of its wartime food plan, saying it is taking monthly inventories of crucial supplies like rice and making sure they are properly stored across the island in case of a Chinese blockade.

Taiwan's defence ministry said on Tuesday that live fire Chinese drills in a province facing the island are part of routine annual drills but also possibly part of China's "deterrence effect" in the waters of the Taiwan Strait.

China is holding live-fire drills off the coast of its southern Fujian province that faces Taiwan. The new exercises Tuesday are taking place just a week after China held a massive air-and-sea drill it called punishment for Taiwan’s president rejecting Beijing’s claims of sovereignty.

China held a live-firing exercise from its territory closest to Taiwan one week after it launched a large-scale drill encircling the island. Chinese military drills off the Taiwanese coast have intensified in recent years as its claims over the self-governed island have grown.