Tanks pounded targets and fighter jets roared overhead on Wednesday as Taiwan’s military conducted its final combat exercises after weeks of saber-rattling by giant neighbor China.
China, which claims that Taiwan was democratically ruled as its own territory, has conducted exercises on the island since US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei last month.
Taiwan, which rejects China’s sovereignty claims, has repeatedly stressed its calm reaction to Beijing’s activities, but that it also has the resolve and ability to defend itself if necessary.
A Taiwanese Apache helicopter fires a rocket during a military exercise in Hengchun, Pingtung County, southern Taiwan, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. (AP)
“Ground combat readiness training is an essential duty of the armed forces, and it is also something we must do every day and every moment,” defense ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang told reporters at a government-organized visit to Pingtung, in the southern tip of Taiwan. to see the drills.
“In relation to defense operations in Taiwan and its outlying islands, we conduct our exercises with the attitude of reacting to threats according to the terrain and being able to fight everywhere to complete our duty to increase readiness for to war,” he added.
A Taiwanese tank fires at targets during a military exercise in Hengchun, Pingtung County, southern Taiwan, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. (AP)
Taiwan’s armed forces are well equipped, but dwarfed by China’s. President Tsai Ing-wen has been overseeing a modernization program and has made increasing defense spending a priority.
