Taiwan conducts live-fire missile tests.

Báo Thanh niên•03/07/2023

Đài Loan thử nghiệm bắn đạn thật với tên lửa - Ảnh 1. — Taiwan's Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missile.

The missile test in southern Pingtung County, Taiwan, comes amid close scrutiny of relations between Taipei and Beijing, with China having conducted two large-scale military exercises around the island in the past year, according to AFP.

The activity was conducted before the Han Kuang exercise entered its field phase, which involved live-fire drills, from July 24 to 28. Prior to that, the first phase of the exercise was conducted on a computer system in May. This is generally considered Taiwan's largest and most important annual military exercise.

Taiwan's defense ministry said in April that the focus of its live-fire drills was to test the military's ability to preserve its forces in the event of a full-scale attack and to conduct "sea-based interception" to counter attempts to blockade the island, according to CNA.

Taiwan unveils new drone, suicide UAV.

Beijing has recently been repeatedly deploying aircraft and warships to the Taiwan Strait, the 180-kilometer-wide body of water separating the island from mainland China.

Last month, eight Chinese fighter jets approached Taiwan's contiguous zone, the area within 24 nautical miles of its coast. In May, China's Shandong carrier strike group transited the Taiwan Strait, a move considered rare.

The Beijing government views Taiwan as part of its territory and does not rule out the use of force to unify the two sides of the strait.

Source link