TAIWAN CONDUCTS DRILL TO REPEL CHINESE ‘INVASION’

Taiwanese troops using tanks, mortars and small arms staged a drill aimed at repelling an attack from China, which has increased its threats to reclaim the island and its own displays of military might.

“No matter what is happening around the Taiwan Strait, our determination to guard our homeland will never change,” said Major General Chen Chong-ji, director of the department of political warfare, about the exercise at Hukou Army Base south of the capital Taipei, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Chen said the exercise was intended as a show of Taiwan’s determination to maintain peace between the sides through a show of force.

The drills are also meant to reassure the public the military is maintaining its guard ahead of next month’s Chinese New Year festival, when many troops take leave.

Hukou base lies in Hsinchu county, a center for Taiwan's high-tech industries that have thrived despite the constant threats of invasion by China, which considers the self-governing island democracy part of its own territory to be conquered by force if necessary.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has sought to bolster the island's defences with the purchase of billions of dollars in weapons from key ally the US, including upgraded F-16 fighter jets, armed drones, rocket systems and Harpoon missiles capable of hitting both ships and land targets.

She has also boosted support for the island's indigenous arms industry, including launching a program to build new submarines to counter China's ever-growing naval capabilities.

Taiwan has around 86 vessels compared to China’s 350, including two aircraft carriers and 56 submarines.

Beijing also has 2,000 combat fighters and bombers and 1,250 ballistic missiles. The total manpower of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is 2 million.

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