Taiwan ends live-fire drills coinciding with China exercises

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Taiwan has concluded two days of live-fire drills coinciding with Chinese military exercises on the mainland coast facing the island.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said its drills included testing 12 types of missiles with ranges of up to 250 kilometres (155 miles), long enough to reach targets in the mainland interior.

Ministry Deputy Chief of Staff Li Chao Ming said Tuesday a total of 117 projectiles were fired with an accuracy rate of more than 95 per cent but declined to identify the missiles by name. Two of the air force’s F-16 fighter jets also fired AGM-Harpoon missiles that hit a pair of decommissioned landing ships.

China says it is holding four days of drills through Thursday along the coasts of Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, which face the democratically governed island.