The Taiwanese army conducted a live ammunition artillery exercise on Tuesday, August 9, simulating the defense of the island against a Chinese invasion. The maneuvers took place in Pingtung County and lasted just under an hour. Several hundred soldiers were deployed, as well as about forty howitzers, the army said. A new exercise is scheduled for Thursday. A spokesperson clarified that these operations were programmed and did not constitute a response to the Chinese maneuvers in progress.
Beijing has been carrying out its largest military air and sea operations around Taiwan for a week, in response to the visit to the island of the elected American Nancy Pelosi. China “used the drills and his military roadmap to prepare for the invasion of Taiwan”accused the head of Taiwanese diplomacy on Tuesday at a press conference in Taipei.
“China’s real intention is to alter the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and across the region.he added. It conducts large-scale military exercises and missile launches, as well as cyberattacks, disinformation campaign and economic coercion in order to weaken the morale of the people in Taiwan.” Beijing believes that the island, which has 23 million inhabitants, is one of its provinces, which it has not yet managed to reunite with the rest of its territory since 1949.
