Taiwan army reveals off its mettle with newest fight drills

Tanks pounded targets and fighter jets roared overhead on Wednesday as Taiwan’s army carried out its newest fight drills after weeks of sabre-rattling by large neighbour China.

China, which claims democratically dominated Taiwan as its personal territory, has been holding workout routines across the island since a go to to Taipei final month by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Taiwan, which rejects China’s sovereignty claims, has repeatedly confused its calm response to Beijing’s actions, however that it additionally has the resolve and talent to defend itself if wanted.

A Taiwanese Apache helicopter fires a rocket throughout a army train in Hengchun, Pingtung county in southern Taiwan on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. (AP)

“Ground combat readiness training is an essential duty of the armed forces and is also something that we have to do each day and every moment,” defence ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang instructed reporters on a government-organised go to to Pingtung in Taiwan’s far south to see the drills.

“Regarding defence operations in Taiwan and its outlying islands, we conduct our exercises with the attitude of reacting to threats according to terrain and being able to fight everywhere to complete our duty of increasing war preparedness,” he added.

A Taiwanese tank fires at targets throughout a army train in Hengchun, Pingtung county in southern Taiwan on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. (AP)

Taiwan’s armed forces are well-equipped however dwarfed by China’s. President Tsai Ing-wen has been overseeing a modernisation programme and has made growing defence spending a precedence.