Taiwan begins 5-day combat readiness exercises
Taipei, TAIWAN—Taiwan began five days of combat readiness drills on Monday, the defense ministry said, aiming to speed up the military’s deployment in the event of a potential Chinese attack.
The “Immediate Combat Readiness Exercise” underway until Friday is part of “annual planned joint operations training,” the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a statement on Sunday.
Taiwan’s military regularly holds drills to prepare for a potential attack from China, which claims Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring the island under its control.
The exercise aims to “train units at all levels during the combat readiness deployment phase, familiarizing them with combat practices and the battlefield environment, and strengthening their ability to quickly transition between peacetime and wartime operations,” the MND said.
Taiwan has spent many billions of dollars upgrading its military in the past decade, but is under intense US pressure to do more to protect itself against the growing threat from China.
These exercises are designed to simulate what would happen before enemy forces launched their ships, according to Taiwan’s semi-official Central News Agency. The series of exercises could also include impromptu ones in the future, including real-time responses to Chinese military drills.
China’s People’s Liberation Army sent 23 aircraft towards Taiwan from Sunday to Monday morning, according to Taiwan’s defense ministry. That was accompanied by seven navy ships and five other Chinese government ships. China sends war planes, drones and navy ships toward the island on a daily basis.
