BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese militia staged a two-day weekend exercise off the southeastern coast, following up on drills by the People's Liberation Army this month amid simmering tensions with arch-foe Taiwan, state media said on Monday.

About 3,000 Chinese officers, men, militia and paramilitary police took part in the two-day exercises off Fujian province that ended on Sunday and which involved militia boats providing front-line support at sea, the online edition of the official Xinhua news agency said.

China suspects Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian will push for formal statehood after winning a second four-year term in March and it is preparing for a possible showdown with the self-ruled, democratic island, which Beijing has claimed as its own since their split at the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.

Xinhua did not say whom the exercises were aimed at but they came on the heels of week-long land, sea and air drills that simulated an invasion of Taiwan. About 18,000 troops took part in those war games on Fujian's Dongshan island.

The exercises come not only when China is putting on a show of force opposite Taiwan but amid signs top leaders in Beijing are jostling over how best to deal with the island.

China's Communist Party chief Hu Jintao edged away from his usual practice of deferring on military issues to his predecessor, Jiang Zemin, who is still chairman of the decision-making Central Military Commission.

In widely publicized comments, Hu told a study session of the party's elite Politburo last week that China should "promote the coordinated development of national defense building and economic construction."

Analysts said Hu's comments signaled he was becoming increasingly assertive vis-a-vis Jiang and did not want an arms race with Taiwan to weigh down the Chinese economy.

Hu, who is also vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, said China "must unwaveringly walk the path of peaceful development," the overseas edition of the official People's Daily said on Monday.

Analysts saw the mention of "peaceful development" by Hu as a swipe at Jiang. In a bid to retain his stamp on foreign policy, Jiang has barred Hu from publicly using such phrases that refer to China's peaceful rise, the New York Times has reported.

The simmering rivalry between the two leaders was underscored by the front-page publication of Hu's remarks -- accompanied on the same page by a report on Jiang's latest military edict.

Taiwan, seen by many security analysts as the most dangerous flashpoint in the Asia-Pacific region, topped the agenda when U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and Adm. Thomas Fargo, the top U.S. military officer in Asia, visited Beijing this month.

Chinese leaders warned the United States against selling advanced weapons to the island.

U.S. decision-makers played out this month a crisis-simulation drill, dubbed Dragon's Thunder, based on a growing Chinese military threat to Taiwan.

Western military analysts have said China wants to avoid conflict with Taiwan if possible, but the People's Liberation Army is preparing for worst-case scenarios.

Taiwan's leaders are betting China will not attack and jeopardize surging economic growth, seen as necessary to create jobs, avert social unrest and perpetuate Communist Party rule.

The island's leaders also believe the United States would rush to their rescue in the event of conflict. Western analysts said Taipei may be miscalculating Beijing's resolve and that Washington has no desire to be dragged into any conflict.

China's resolve was shown in the weekend exercises involving militia boats firing ground-to-air guided missiles and providing first aid and ship repair services, state media said.