The Taiwanese army carried out a new live ammunition exercise on Thursday, August 11, after Beijing ended its largest military maneuvers ever organized around the island. Taiwanese forces fired howitzers and flares as part of the operation, according to the army spokesman. These maneuvers in Pingtung County, started at 8:30 a.m., lasted an hour.
Taiwan had already conducted a military exercise on Tuesday in the same region. According to the army, hundreds of men participated in these two sessions. The authorities have minimized the scope of these exercises, ensuring that they were already scheduled and were not a response to those of China.
Beijing organized major maneuvers in early August in response to a visit to the island by the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi. China conducted multi-day air and sea exercises around the island. Taipei has accused China of having used the visit of the American elected official as a pretext to train for an invasion.