Taiwan's Defense Ministry Calls China's Military Drills Opportunity To Hone Army Training

Taiwan's Defense Ministry Calls China's Military Drills Opportunity to Hone Army Training

Daily military exercises by China provide Taiwan's army with a good opportunity to improve its combat training, the island's Defense Ministry spokesman Sun Lifang, said on Tuesday

BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th August, 2022) Daily military exercises by China provide Taiwan's army with a good opportunity to improve its combat training, the island's Defense Ministry spokesman Sun Lifang, said on Tuesday.

"Practicing combat training is our main job. Daily provocations by China are a good opportunity for us to train," Sun Lifang was quoted by Taiwanese television channel TVBS as saying.

Taiwanese armed forces conduct reconnaissance and surveillance of the air and sea space around the island and are able to respond appropriately if necessary, the spokesman added.

On Monday, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said that the Chinese military is once again conducting exercises and patrols around Taiwan in response to a two-day visit of an American delegation headed by US Senator Edward J. Markey to the island.

China had repeatedly opposed visits of senior US officials to the island, as it considers Taiwan part of its territory and opposes any direct official foreign contacts with Taipei. The visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the island in early August triggered a new round of tensions in the Taiwan Strait and a wave of Chinese sanctions against Taiwan. Moreover, Beijing launched large-scale military exercises in the vicinity of the island, which included live-fire drills and military aircraft overflights close to Taiwan's airspace.

Taiwan became alienated from Beijing after becoming a stronghold of the Chinese Nationalist Party (the Kuomintang) that suffered defeat to the Communist Party in a civil war in 1949. The Chinese mainland and the island resumed business and informal contacts in the late 1980s.