Taiwan military starts war games simulating attack by China’s PLA
Two-day exercise sees island’s military step up preparations for any attack from mainland amid worsening cross-strait relations
Taiwan began two days of war games on its east coast on Tuesday, simulating an attack by the People’s Liberation Army in the wake of Beijing’s intensifying sabre-rattling.
Fighter jets, helicopters and a large number of troops were mobilised to fight the simulated invasion, which mimicked an attempt by warplanes from the PLA’s Liaoning aircraft carrier group to destroy its military bases on the east coast, defence officials said.
Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway Chinese province that must eventually be reunified with the mainland – by force if necessary.
“The two-day drill, code-named Joint-Electronic 107-2 is aimed at testing the combat readiness of our forces and their ability to cope with the attack from the enemy by means of firepower and electronic warfare,” a military official said.
The official said a fast combat support ship, the Panshi, had been stationed off the east coast to act as an “enemy” vessel, using its radar and other communications systems to try to disturb the operations of the island’s combined service forces.