SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Taiwan fighters land on highway for Chinese 'invasion' war games
Changhua, Taiwan, May 28 (AFP) May 28, 2019
Taiwan displayed how its fighter jets can land, refuel and rearm on the island's highways Tuesday as part of its largest annual exercise simulating defence against a Chinese invasion.

The self-ruled island has long lived under the threat of invasion by Beijing which views Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to take it back by force if necessary.

Chinese military and diplomatic pressure has been significantly ramped up since the 2016 election of President Tsai Ing-wen, whose government refuses to acknowledge that the self-ruled island is part of "one China".

This week Taiwan's 23 million inhabitants have witnessed stark reminders of the military threats they face.

On Monday the streets were briefly deserted as authorities carried out an annual missile drill across the island's north, with text messages sent to every mobile phone and air raid sirens wailing.

The following day 1,600 soldiers were mobilised in central Taiwan as aircraft practised landing on a closed highway for the annual "Han Kuang" (Han Glory) war games.

Three jet fighters as well as an early warning aircraft also practised refuelling and loading missiles and other ammunition before taking off again.

Taiwan would be massively outgunned in terms of troop numbers and firepower in any war with China but it has developed sophisticated asymmetric tactics to hold out for as long as possible and make any invasion of the island hugely costly for Beijing.

"There are only a few military air bases which would become the prime targets in the event of an attack. The highway drill is necessary as highway strips would be our priority choice if the runways are damaged during a war," air force Colonel Shu Kuo-mao told reporters.

Inspecting the drill on Tuesday, president Tsai referred to the marked uptick in Chinese naval and airforce patrols in recent months which have rattled nerves.

"They have caused a certain degree of threat to regional peace and stability. We should maintain high vigilance," she said.

The manoeuvres in Taiwan come after the US, Japan, South Korea and Australia kicked off operation "Pacific Vanguard" near Guam, bringing together more than 3,000 sailors from the four countries last week.

Beijing has also been angered by warming relations between Taipei and Washington since Tsai came to power.

On Monday, Beijing reacted frostily to photos showing a rare meeting between uniformed Taiwanese officers and their US counterparts earlier this month.

Last week, China lodged a protest with Washington after two US warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
China Focus: Chinese scientist details first planned Mars sample-return mission Tianwen 3
NASA says it will lose about 20 percent of its workforce
Building blocks of life found in distant star system suggest origins in interstellar space

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Trump administration expected to say greenhouse gases aren't harmful
MicroCarb satellite launches to map global carbon dioxide emissions from space
Rollable solar array by GalaxySpace redefines satellite compactness and power efficiency

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Airbus CO3D satellites begin mission to generate high precision global 3D map
BlackSky to supply satellite imagery and analytics for Latin American security operations
GovSat selects Thales Alenia Space to build secure satellite for military communications

24/7 News Coverage
First wildfire images reveal FireSat's unmatched detection capabilities
MetOp Second Generation satellite fully fuelled ahead of August launch
MicroCarb satellite launch marks new era in urban carbon tracking



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.