Taiwan's defense authorities described the move as "abnormal" since drills by People's Liberation Army troops in other areas were being carried out as scheduled, the paper said.

There was no "external factor" strong enough to force Beijing to cancel the much propagandized eighth annual exercise on Dongshan Island, they said.

The troops were moved to Guangzhou military zone last week before the powerful Typhoon Aere struck Taiwan. The transfer left only several hundred soldiers on the island, according to the paper.

Defense officials here said the wargames, aimed at attacking Taiwan, might have been scrapped due to bad weather. But they did not rule out the possibility of a power struggle among the Chinese leadership and considerations about Sino-US relations, the paper said.

The defense ministry had no immediate comment on the report.

China has long considered Taiwan part of its territory to be reunified, by force if necessary. The two sides split in 1949 at the end of a civil war.

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