Military maneuvers: Taiwan is rehearsing for emergencies

The government in Taiwan holds its annual military maneuvers. An invasion on the northwest coast is simulated. China, which does not recognize Taiwan’s independence, responded with threats.

Taiwan conducts its annual military exercise. The island wants to show strength, alone 20 warships take part in the maneuver, destroyers, frigates. An invasion on the northwest coast is simulated. That’s the one towards the Taiwan Strait – opposite is China, which doesn’t see the island as independent, but as part of the People’s Republic and wants to incorporate it.

The threat to Taiwan is constant, but has recently become increasingly clear – a motivated force is particularly important here. And perhaps that’s why President Tsai Ing-wen is attending in person this time.

Today’s maneuver shows the soldiers’ determination and ability to “defend their country,” she said through her radio. “Let’s keep working hard and keep our country together,” was the President’s appeal to the soldiers.

Improve “Overall Combat Skills”.

It is only the second time in Tsai’s six-year tenure that she has attended a maneuver. Television pictures show her in camouflage clothing, listening, nodding, looking through binoculars. And of all things, during the President’s visit, things didn’t go as planned: “During today’s exercise, in which the Air Force fired missiles, there was actually one missile that didn’t hit the target,” said Defense Ministry spokesman Sun Li-Fang .

However, he also stressed that the main goal of the exercise is to “improve overall fighting skills. Whether we hit the target or not, it is of great value to us,” Sun said. Because Taiwan knows that it has little chance of a possible attack by China, but wants to make it as difficult as possible for the opponent.

Beijing: “Doomed to fail in the end”

The most recent exercise was of course also a topic in Beijing. Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian spoke about it at the weekly press briefing. He made a conspicuous number of pauses in each sentence and made an interesting comparison:

But David’s fight against Goliath also ended differently than expected.