Taiwan accused China on Tuesday of holding its biggest maritime mobilisation around the island in years, though Beijing has stayed tight-lipped over its latest show of force.

Here, AFP looks at the Taiwan Strait, a critical waterway and growing military flashpoint:

The strait separates the eastern Chinese province of Fujian from the main island of Taiwan, home to around 23 million people.

At its narrowest point, just 130 kilometres (about 80 miles) of windswept water separates the two major landmasses, and several outlying Taiwanese islands -- including Kinmen and Matsu -- lie just a few kilometres from the Chinese coastline.

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since Mao Zedong's communist army won a civil war and sent the opposition nationalist forces fleeing across the strait in 1949.

Beijing has maintained ever since that the island is part of its territory, and has not ruled out using force to bring it under control.

The strait is a critical artery for global shipping through which a huge volume of trade passes every day.

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© International Business Times