The China Post
Date: December 15, 2016
By: Joseph Yeh
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan staged a live-fire exercise on Wednesday to test the nation’s missile system
Two U.S.-made F-16 fighters are pictured during a scramble take off at the eastern Hualien air force base on Jan. 23, 2013. F-16 fighter jets were deployed to fly around the island to simulate invading enemy aircraft during an unannounced air defense drill on Wednesday, Dec. 14. (AFP)
amid tensions with Beijing after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump suggested the U.S. was not necessarily bound by the “one China” policy.
The three-day drill, which took place in Pingtung, southern Taiwan, came as the military held an unannounced air defense drill on the same day, simulating how Taiwanese warplanes could swiftly intercept incoming fighter jets from the enemy side.
The drills were staged just days after Chinese military aircraft circled near Taiwan for the second time in less than a month, albeit without entering the country’s air defense identification zone.
Multiple media reports have stated that an islandwide anti-airstrike exercise held by all three major branches of the armed forces was carried out from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. Wednesday. [FULL STORY]