As Xi flexes muscles, Taiwan practices defence against Chinese invasion

As Chinese leader Xi Jinping has intensified his threats, Taiwan has conducted drills to defend the self-ruled island against a potential Chinese invasion.

The Taiwanese military on Tuesday simulated the defence of Taiwan’s western coast —which lies across the Taiwan Strait from China— against a potential Chinese invasion. The drills involved the firing of rockets and artillery to repel a simulated Chinese amphibious assault.

Taiwanese commanders noted that the drills simulated a more realistic combat scenario with less preparation time.

The drills come at a time when Chinese military activity around Taiwan has consistently increased. With a pliant leadership in the White House that has toed China’s line on Taiwan and scolded those opposing Chinese aggression, Xi has also adopted increasingly hawkish rhetoric.

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China considers Taiwan a breakaway province and remains committed to unification with the self-ruled island. Xi is widely believed to have set 2027 as the deadline for the Chinese military to be ready to invade and occupy Taiwan. He is also understood to have set 2049 as the deadline for achieving the unification.

After Xi gave Trump a dressing down during the Beijing summit on Taiwan, Trump halted an arms sale to Taiwan and called Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, whom he had previously scolded as well for opposing Chinese plans to invade and occupy the self-ruled island.

Taiwan practises realistic combat

The military conducted drills at eight locations across a 20-kilometre stretch of Taiwan’s western coastline in central Taiwan.

Taiwanese artillery commander Ong Yih-ming said the key difference compared with previous exercises was that the military was no longer conducting heavy artillery firing in fixed, routine formations.

“The timing for entering positions this time was based on realistic combat conditions. So I believe this training posed a considerable level of difficulty for our troops,” Yih-ming said, according to Reuters.

The drills included indigenous truck-mounted Thunderbolt-2000 rocket systems, US-made Paladin howitzers, anti-tank missiles, artillery, and mortars to establish a kill zone against a potential Chinese amphibious assault.

The Taiwanese military said this was the first time in seven years that the Thunderbolt-2000 had conducted live-fire drills in an operational area. The system was specifically developed for the long-range suppression of an invading force.

Rocket commander Liao Neng-cheng said the latest drills differed significantly from previous ones. Earlier, he said, the military would typically enter positions a week in advance and complete firing preparations beforehand. But this time, he said, troops arrived only a day before and carried out the required preparations under realistic battlefield conditions.