Taiwan to stage offshore live-fire military drills at Quemoy and other islets after several recent incidents in area
- Artillery exercises scheduled through April at Quemoy, where 2 mainland fishermen died during Taiwanese coastguard pursuit last month, and other islets
- Land-based drills are ‘routine’ and exercises will not face the mainland coast, military source says
Taiwan will kick off a series of live-fire military drills next month in the area around its offshore islets, including Quemoy, a source of mounting friction between Taipei and Beijing following a series of recent marine incidents.
The Kinmen Defence Command under the Taiwanese army will stage artillery exercises to bolster combat readiness at seven areas around Quemoy, also known as Kinmen, throughout April, according to a notice by Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency.
Those include areas on Quemoy, a Taiwanese defence outpost just opposite the mainland city of Xiamen, and its tiny outlying islets of Houyu, Fuyun, Fuxing, Shiyu, Muyu and Lieyu.
The drills will take place over about 20 days between April 2 and April 30.
In the exercises, land-based weapons will be used to fire at the sea with maximum height trajectories ranging up to 6,600 feet (2,012 metres). All vessels and planes are prohibited from sailing in the vicinity of the drills, the notice said.