For the first time, a Japanese battleship crossed the Taiwan Strait between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland, according to reports from the Japanese media.

On Wednesday, the destroyer Sazanami of the Maritime Self-defence Force crossed the strait from north to south en route to take part in multilateral exercises in the South China Sea, according to official sources.

During the practice, Australian and New Zealand navy ships crossed the channel alongside the Japanese cruiser.

China chastised Germany less than two weeks ago for sending two warships across the restricted body of water in what it claimed was a demonstration of its freedom of navigation.

Taiwan's and Japan's ministries of defence have not responded to the passage.Chinese state newspaper Global Times, citing an unnamed source, said the Chinese military "conducted tracking and monitoring throughout [the vessels'] entire course and had the situation under control".

Both the US and Taiwan say the 180km (112-mile) strait - a key shipping and trade route through which about half of the global container fleet pass - is part of international waters and is open to all naval vessels.

But China, which claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory, claims sovereignty and jurisdiction over the strait.

Bec Strating, an international relations professor at La Trobe University in Australia, said Japan's reported transit is "part of a broader pattern of greater naval presence by countries in and beyond Asia that are concerned about China's maritime assertions".

"Japan in particular has been dealing with China's 'grey zone' tactics in the East China Sea," she told AFP news agency.

Grey zone warfare tactics are aimed at weakening an adversary over a prolonged period of time, analysts say.

Washington and its allies are crossing the Taiwan Strait more frquently to reinforce its status as an international waterway.

China's military accused Germany of increasing security risks by sailing though the strait on 13 September, but Berlin said it acted in accordance with international standards. It was the first time in 22 years for a German naval vessel to traverse the strait.

Besides Germany and Japan, Canada, Australia and the UK have also sailed warships through the strait in recent years.

In recent months, Tokyo has noticed an increase in Chinese military activities in the vicinity of Taiwan and close to Japan.

For the first time, Beijing launched an aircraft carrier between two Japanese islands close to Taiwan last week. When a Chinese surveillance plane entered Japanese airspace in August, Tokyo denounced the flight as "serious violation of sovereignty" and "utterly unacceptable".

In response to China's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea, the presidents of the Quad group of countries—Japan, Australia, India, and the United States—announced last week that they will increase their cooperation on marine security.