Taiwan begins 5-day military drill with tanks patrolling streets

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan kicked off a five-day set of military drills on Monday aimed at boosting the island’s combat readiness in case of a Chinese military attack.

In the city of Taoyuan, home to the island’s largest international airport, tanks drove down city streets and highways, videos and photos of the exercise showed, as armored vehicles from the Army’s 269th Infantry Brigade conducted combat readiness patrols morning.

The Immediate Combat Readiness Exercises are meant to test how rapidly military units can deploy, especially in the face of a possible sudden escalation of Chinese grey-zone warfare. Grey-zone tactics refer to a range of aggressive tactics that vary from navy ship patrols to drone flights, but fall short of direct combat.

The exercises, announced Sunday afternoon, are meant to be realistic, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement, with an emphasis on “real-time, live-fire and on-site.”

These exercises are designed to simulate what would happen before enemy forces launched their ships, according to Taiwan’s semi-official Central News Agency. The series of exercises could also include impromptu ones in the future, including real-time responses to Chinese military drills.

China’s People’s Liberation Army sent 23 aircraft towards Taiwan from Sunday into Monday morning, according to Taiwan’s defense ministry. That was accompanied by seven navy ships and five other Chinese government ships. China sends war planes, drones and navy ships towards the island on a daily basis.

Taiwan regularly conducts combat readiness drills as it seeks to bolster its defense capabilities amid ongoing military pressure from China, which claims the self-governed island as its own territory and has not ruled out the use of force to bring it under its control. Earlier in June, Taiwan fired rockets in China’s direction for the first time as part of a military exercise.

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Wu reported from Bangkok.