Taiwan holds military drills after China repeats threats, vows to defend against invasion

Taiwan’s military on Wednesday conducted a two-day exercise aimed at preparing for potential surprise attacks by Chinese warships and warplanes. The drills, conducted at sea and in the air, simulated scenarios where Taiwan’s defence forces had to defend against sudden attacks. China sees Taiwan as part of “one China” and has never renounced the use of force to bring the democratic island under its control. Taiwan is one of a growing number of flashpoints in the U.S.-China relationship, which include an escalating trade war and China’s muscular military posture in the South China Sea, where the United States also conducts freedom-of-navigation patrols. As relations between the rivals have deteriorated in recent years, fears have grown that America could get pulled into a war if hostilities break out. “Any unilateral irrational action could very easily escalate tensions and sabotage stability in the Taiwan Strait region,” Maj. Gen. Sun Li-fang, a defence ministry spokesperson, told reporters at Tsuoying Naval Base in southern Taiwan. Taiwan’s defence ministry, in a daily report, said that seven Chinese warplanes and four naval vessels were detected around the island in the 24-hour period ending at 6 a.m. on Wednesday. It also reported a Chinese balloon off its northern coast. The annual exercise comes less than three weeks after voters elected Lai Ching-te as their next president, giving a third straight four-year term to the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, which is opposed by China. The drills are aimed in part at boosting public confidence in the island’s ability to defend itself. While its military is dwarfed by China’s, Taiwan has been buying high-tech weaponry from the United States, revitalized its domestic arms industry and extended the length of mandatory military service from four months to one year. In another sign of the tensions across the Taiwan Strait, the island’s government protested Tuesday after China’s aviation authority announced changes to a southbound route for passenger flights that is expected to bring planes closer to Taiwan’s shores. Taiwan first objected to the flight path when it was opened in 2015, citing air safety and sovereignty concerns, and China agreed to move the route seven miles (11 kilometers) closer to its side. But China’s Civil Aviation Administration said it would cancel the “offset measure” starting Thursday. China also said that planes would be allowed to join the flight path from two coastal cities across from Taiwan. Previously, planes were allowed to use the flight path to reach those cities, but could not join it from them, which entails flying toward Taiwan. Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration strongly protested the move, which it said “blatantly contradicts a consensus reached between both sides … in 2015,” according to Taiwanese media. A Chinese government spokesperson called the changes routine and said they were meant to ease air traffic and ensure flight safety in a crowded flight corridor. With inputs from AP.