HUALIEN (Taiwan): Frigates simulate destroying an enemy submarine with depth charges during a live-fire drill at sea on Wednesday.—AFP
HUALIEN (Taiwan): Frigates simulate destroying an enemy submarine with depth charges during a live-fire drill at sea on Wednesday.—AFP

HUALIEN: Taiwan’s navy held a major live-fire exercise on Wednesday off the island’s east coast in an area increasingly threatened by Chinese ships and planes.

The drills are part of annual Han Kuang exercises that simulate an attack by China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory to be annexed by force if necessary.

Navy craft fired cannons and missiles and released depth charges, while fighter jets launched munitions and anti-submarine warfare aircraft released buoys.

Submarines, along with a vast array of ballistic missiles, are considered among China’s most potent weapons against Taiwan, which split from the mainland during a civil war in 1949.

China has boosted its military threat against Taiwan, with President Xi Jinping saying this year that Beijing would not rule out using force. That comes on top of growing Chinese pressure to isolate Taiwan in the international community and inflict economic pain, largely to force independence-leaning President Tsai Ing-wen to agree to Beijing’s contention that Taiwan is a part of China.

Stepped-up Chinese operations have included sending ships to nearby waters and warplanes to circle the island on what Beijing calls training missions. While China would need to send thousands of troops across the Taiwan Strait to effect an invasion, Beijing military planners are also believed to be considering a form of lightning strike that could quickly devastate the island’s ability to resist and force it to capitulate before its chief ally, the United States, could come to its aid.

Taiwan’s lightly populated east coast is home to a key air base and other important military installations.

“We will conduct military exercises regularly at the location where we think the war could be possibly happening,” navy Capt. Soong Shu-kou told reporters.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2019

Opinion

Editorial

Smog hazard
Updated 05 Nov, 2024

Smog hazard

The catastrophe unfolding in Lahore is a product of authorities’ repeated failure to recognise environmental impact of rapid urbanisation.
Monetary policy
05 Nov, 2024

Monetary policy

IN an aggressive move, the State Bank on Monday reduced its key policy rate by a hefty 250bps to 15pc. This is the...
Cultural power
05 Nov, 2024

Cultural power

AS vital modes of communication, art and culture have the power to overcome social and international barriers....
Disregarding CCI
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Disregarding CCI

The failure to regularly convene CCI meetings means that the process of democratic decision-making is falling apart.
Defeating TB
04 Nov, 2024

Defeating TB

CONSIDERING the fact that Pakistan has the fifth highest burden of tuberculosis in the world as per the World Health...
Ceasefire charade
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Ceasefire charade

The US talks of peace, while simultaneously arming and funding their Israeli allies, are doomed to fail, and are little more than a charade.