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Taiwan Ready to Hold Rare Military Drill
Taiwan's military will close part of a popular freeway Wednesday so
jet fighters can practice using it as an emergency runway - a rare
drill to prepare pilots for the possible bombing of air bases by
China, officials said.
The island hasn't 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 who separated amid civil war in 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 two sides.
The drills are partly about posturing, with China trying to warn the
Taiwanese against seeking a permanent split, and Taiwan - which has
repeatedly rebuffed Beijing's demands to unify - wanting to show that
it's 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 Shey-sheng.
One popular battle 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.
An five mile section of the freeway in southern Tainan County will be
closed to traffic from 3 a.m. to 9 a.m. local time Wednesday as two
French-made Mirage jets practice landing, refueling, reloading and
taking off, officials said.
"We will practice using the freeway as a runway at the time of a war,"
Huang told reporters Tuesday at a weekly briefing.
Shu Hsiao-huang, an editor of the local magazine Defense
International, said using the highways is 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.
Taiwan's navy also plans to stage an exercise Wednesday involving
anti-submarine aircraft, French-made Lafayette frigates and other
vessels, said a naval official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The naval official did not give further details, but the United
Evening News said the aircraft will practice bombing submarines.
Also 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 the younger generation - oppose unification
with China.
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