Taiwan Begins 5-Day Military Drill     06/22 06:13

   

   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.