Taiwan rejected - on Thursday - the "one country, two systems" model proposed by China, while it conducted new live-fire exercises after China finished its largest-ever military exercise around the island, which it considers an integral part of its territory.
Taiwanese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Guan Oo said - at a press conference - that only the people of Taiwan have the right to self-determination, after China proposed the "one country, two systems" model in a "white" paper it published this week.
She added that China is using US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan "as an excuse to create a new normal to intimidate the people."
On the other hand, a spokesman for the Eighth Corps, Lu Wei Jie, told AFP that the Taiwanese forces fired artillery shells and flares in Pingtung County (south) as part of defensive exercises.
Taiwan also held military exercises Tuesday in Pingtung, and the military said hundreds of men took part in the two rounds of maneuvers.
The authorities downplayed the importance of these exercises, stressing that they were previously scheduled and do not constitute a response to China's maneuvers.
Beijing was angered after a visit last week by the speaker of the US House of Representatives to Taiwan.
In response to the visit, China held days of air and sea exercises around the island, while Taipei accused Beijing of using Pelosi's visit as a pretext to practice invading the island.
Beijing announced - Wednesday - the end of its exercises, stressing that its forces "carried out various tasks" in the Taiwan Strait, and at the same time pledged to continue guarding its waters, but stressed in the same statement that it would continue to "conduct military exercises and prepare for war."
China's Taiwan Affairs Office announced in a "white paper" yesterday that Beijing would not "abandon the use of force" against its neighbor and reserved "the possibility of taking all necessary measures."
"We are ready to create a wide space (for cooperation) to achieve peaceful reunification, but we will not leave any room for separatist actions aimed at achieving false independence for Taiwan," the document said.