TAIWAN-MILITARY DRILL Taiwan shows off new weapons during annual military drill

Record ID: 141257

  • Title: TAIWAN-MILITARY DRILL Taiwan shows off new weapons during annual military drill
  • Date: 10th September 2015
  • Summary: HSINCHU COUNTY, TAIWAN (SEPTEMBER 10, 2015) (REUTERS) LINES OF M109A5, 155MM, SELF-PROPELLED ARTILLERIES FIRING LIVE-FIRE TOWARDS TAIWAN STRAIT M110A2, 203MM, SELF-PROPELLED ARTILLERIES FIRING LIVE ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION EXPLOSIVES LANDING IN THE SEA M109A5, 155MM, SELF-PROPELLED ARTILLERIES FIRING LIVE ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION PHOTOGRAPHER WEARING ARMY HELMET AND EARPLUGS SHOOTING PHOTOGRAPHS ARMY SOLDIERS PUTTING LIVE ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION INTO ARTILLERY PEOPLE WATCHING EXERCISES M110A2, 203MM, SELF-PROPELLED ARTILLERIES FIRING LIVE ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION EXPLOSIVES LANDING IN THE SEA M110A2, 203MM, SELF-PROPELLED ARTILLERIES FIRING LIVE ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION M109A5, 155MM, SELF-PROPELLED ARTILLERY FIRING LIVE ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION EXPLOSIVES LANDING IN THE SEA M109A5, 155MM AND M110A2, 203MM, SELF-PROPELLED ARTILLERIES FIRING TOWARDS SEA
  • Embargoed: 25th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAEL1OF7TA40WRGKIFN8GLD6Q1U
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Taiwan fired live rounds of ammunition into the Taiwan straits on Thursday (September 10) as it staged a drill simulating an amphibious invasion as part of its annual Han Kuang series of military exercises.
    The annual drills, which run this week and are the island's most important war games, also included simulations of a scenario in which Chinese submarines attack one of Taiwan's Islands that lies close to the mainland but are repelled by Taiwanese amphibious forces.
    Eight hundred soldiers participated in the drills, firing more than 300 live shells, local media reported.
    China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own and has never renounced the use of force to bring the democratic island under its rule. Defeated Nationalist forces fled to Taiwan after losing a civil war with the Communists in 1949.
    Ties have generally improved under Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou, who has signed a series of landmark trade and economic pacts with China, but deep suspicions remain on either side.
    Beijing will begin their own live-fire drills in the sensitive Taiwan Strait starting from Friday (September 11), the government said in a notice issued to warn shipping away from the area.
    In a brief statement on Thursday, China's Maritime Safety Administration gave coordinates just off the coast of the Chinese port city of Quanzhou for the exercises, which will finish on Sunday (September 13). It gave no other details.
    Taiwan's Defence Ministry said they were aware of the annual drills, which the ministry described as routine.
    Quanzhou lies between two small groups of islands, Kinmen and Wu-chiu, that have been controlled by Taiwan since 1949. Another group, the Matsu islands, are slightly further up the coast near the Chinese city of Fuzhou.
    Taiwan's military has warned that China is building two new aircraft carriers and has practised attacks on targets modelled on places in Taiwan.
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