Taiwan’s military had live fire drills on its deliberately chosen location southern coast on Monday, firing missiles from highly mobile armoured cars to break targets nearby shore in a simulation of fighting off invading forces. China names Taiwan as a defector region to be reunified, by force if important. Beijing has built up military pressure over the past three years to attempt to declare its jurisdiction claim, and the island’s armed forces routinely practise avoiding a Chinese attack.
Camouflaged Taiwanese army Humvees roared around the coastal drill area in Pingtung county’s Fangshan near the far southern edge of the island, before firing off United States-made TOW anti-tank missiles to demolish static targets near the shoreline. “Most of the drills we carried out today included live artillery because the defence exercise requires to be similar to actual combat, allowing our army to be self assured and have the potential to save our homeland,” Defence Ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang told reporters.