Some of the Chinese submarines, which participated in recent exercises, were asked to remain in seas near the Taiwan Strait, the Beijing-backed Wen Wei Po said, quoting military experts.

Chinese warships have increased patrols in the Taiwan Strait, while air force fighters were kept on alert and forces from the People's Liberation Army were mobilised along the southeastern coastal region, the paper said.

Meanwhile, the Chinese-language Sun daily said President Jiang Zemin, who heads the Central Military Commission, had on August 3 ordered the Nanjing and Guangzhou military regions to go to the top level-one alert. The Chinese military is routinely at the lowest alert level of three.

The newspaper, citing sources in Beijing, said naval fleets in the East and South China Sea were given three-pointinstructions ``to attack for Defence'' if there was provocation from Taiwan fighter jets, if they intruded mainland airspace in the Taiwan Strait or if there was provocation from foreign military forces in the Taiwan Strait, adding attacks could also be launched if foreign military aircraft failed to adhere to warnings.

The Sun in a separate report said the Central Military Commission planned to stage a large military exercise simulating a blockade of Taiwan Strait before the end of August.

During Taiwan's presidential elections in 1996, China carried out large-scale war games and fired missiles into the Taiwan Strait, following a high-profile trip to the United States by Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui in 1995.

China has kept up a propaganda barrage against Lee after he declared last month that he wanted ``special state-to-state'' relations with Beijing.

China claims Taiwan is a renegade province. The two sides split at the end of the Chinese civil war won by the communists in 1949.

The UnitedStates has warned the new tensions could spin out of control and the Taiwan press reported a Chinese air force provocation almost sparked a confrontation with Taiwanese fighter jets last week.

There have been multiple reports of Chinese military exercises as part of the war of nerves which has badly hit Taiwan's stock market.