TAIPEI, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Sunday offered to provide China with "necessary assistance" to help it deal with a surge in COVID-19 cases, but said Chinese military activities near the island were not beneficial to peace and stability.In an abrupt change of policy, China last month began dismantling the world's strictest pandemic regime of lockdowns and extensive testing, meaning COVID-19 is spreading largely unchecked and likely infecting millions of people a day, according to some international health experts."As long as there is a need, based on the position of humanitarian care, we are willing to provide the necessary assistance to help more people get out of the pandemic and have a healthy and safe new year," she said, without elaborating.China had criticised Taiwan for ineffective management of the pandemic after soaring domestic infections last year, while Taiwan has accused China of a lack of transparency and trying to interfere with vaccine supplies to Taiwan, which Beijing has denied.Chinese President Xi Jinping, in his New Year address on Saturday evening, made only brief reference of Taiwan, saying people on either side of the Taiwan Strait "are members of one and the same family", and made no mention of seeking to bring the island under Chinese control."