Warplanes of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) flew on both sides of Taiwan on Monday as the island kicked off its annual Han Kuang military drills which local media said is a preparation for a possible amphibious landing on the island by the Chinese mainland.

Chinese mainland experts said that the Han Kuang exercises are nothing more than a show that does not change the cross-Straits military balance but only raises tensions that expose the attempts of the secessionist Democratic Progressive Party authorities to resist reunification by force and build up anxiety among ordinary people.

A TB-001 armed reconnaissance drone of the PLA flew across the Miyako Strait and to the eastern side of the island of Taiwan, according to a press release by Japan's Ministry of Defense Joint Staff. Also on Monday, a Y-8 reconnaissance plane and a J-11 fighter jet of the PLA entered Taiwan's self-proclaimed southwest air defense identification zone, Taiwan's defense authority announced in a press release.

The island of Taiwan launched on Monday its annual Han Kuang military drills which aim to "test Taiwan's readiness in air defense, combat capacity preservation, and counterattack capabilities," local media reported.

The five-day drills will simulate a scenario in which the PLA launches an assault on the island. Taiwan's warplanes will fly to the eastern part of the island, its warships will leave ports to evade attacks and its ground units will focus on defense and preparation for counterattacks, media reported.

Taiwan's regional leader Tsai Ing-wen will oversee a large-scale maritime exercise on the waters of Yilan's Su'ao, in the east of the island, on Tuesday. Joint exercises will be held in key locations, including freshwater estuaries and the Port of Taipei, according to the reports.

Regardless of the training exercises of the Han Kuang drills, there is no changing the fact that the PLA holds an overwhelming advantage against Taiwan's armed forces should they attempt to resist reunification by force, Chinese mainland analysts said.

The Han Kuang drills are more of a show rather than anything of military significance, Wei Dongxu, a Beijing-based military expert, told the Global Times on Monday.

Taiwan's armed forces are hyping an atmosphere of war and a potential cross-Straits conflict through the drills to build up anxiety among ordinary people in the island and make the mainland look dangerous, creating excuses to purchase more US weapons and equipment, Wei said.

But the real creators of the tensions across the Taiwan Straits are the "Taiwan independence" secessionists and foreign interference forces like the US, observers said.