TAIPEI, Taiwan (July 21) - Taiwanese fighter jets practiced landing on
a highway that was temporarily closed to traffic early Wednesday, a
rare drill to prepare pilots for the possible bombing of air bases by
China, officials said.
The island has not held such an exercise in 26 years, and it comes as
China conducts war games that Beijing's state-controlled media have
said are practice for a long-threatened attack on Taiwan.
The rivals, separated since 1949, usually hold large-scale military
exercises at this time of year when the weather is good in the Taiwan
Strait, the 100-mile-wide body of water that separates the island from
the Chinese mainland.
The drills are partly about posturing, with China trying to warn the
Taiwanese against seeking a permanent split. Taiwan - which has
repeatedly rebuffed Beijing's demands to unify - wants to show that it
is ready to fend off any invasion.
Using the highway as a runway is part of Taiwan's series of annual war
games, called the Hankuang, or Chinese Glory, said Defense Ministry
spokesman Huang Shuey-sheng. Two French-made Mirage jets practiced
landing, refueling, reloading and taking off on the road, he said.
One popular war scenario has China destroying Taiwan's air strips with
short-range missiles and bombers. To deal with such a loss, the
Taiwanese have designated several sections of highway as emergency
runways.
The military began blocking off a five mile section of the freeway in
southern Tainan County at 3 a.m. Wednesday. Military crews walked
shoulder-to-shoulder down the highway, sweeping away stones and other
debris. Helicopters were used to scare away birds that might get
sucked into the jets' engines.
Shortly after dawn, the two Mirage jets touched down on the highway,
and crews began servicing the aircraft. Local television covered the
drill live, while a crowd of residents and military buffs watched from
a distance.
Shu Hsiao-huang, an editor of the local magazine Defense
International, said using the highways was a wise strategy. "With the
spare runways, China would have to use up more missiles, and this
would reduce our risks and increase their costs," Shu said.
On Tuesday, Taiwan's military urged the public not to worry about the
large-scale military exercises China is holding this month on Dongshan
Island, off China's southern coast. The military dismissed them as
routine annual drills.
But China's state-controlled media have warned that one purpose of the
drills was to discourage Taiwan from seeking formal independence. Some
Taiwanese - especially younger residents - oppose unification with
China.
A recent English-language article on the People's Daily Online Web
site reported that the drills were a warning to "Taiwan Independence
elements" that the Chinese military "is capable and confident in
settling the Taiwan issue by military force."
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