By Ann Wang
KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (Reuters) – Taiwan’s navy simulated on Thursday an effort to see off enemy ships as it wrapped up three days of New Year drills, sending two of its newest and most advanced warships to lead a flotilla into the Taiwan Strait.
China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, sends its air force and navy into the skies and waters near the island on a daily basis in what the government in Taipei calls a sustained pressure campaign.
Last year China also held two rounds of major war games around Taiwan.
At the Zuoying naval base in the southern city of Kaohsiung on the shores of the Strait, two Tuo Chiang-class corvettes accompanied four smaller Kuang Hua VI-class missile boats into the waters in a drill simulating the approach of enemy ships.
“When we see a target at sea, when it continues to approach us, this is how we react,” navy Captain Chen Ming-feng told reporters at the base.
The Taiwan-made Tuo Chiang corvettes have been dubbed the “aircraft carrier killer” by its navy, for their complement of anti-ship missiles. They can also carry Sky Sword anti-aircraft missiles.
With a catamaran design, the state-of-the-art highly manoeuvrable stealth vessels, are intended to take out larger warships while operating close to Taiwan’s shores.
Taiwan’s navy is dwarfed by that of China, which has three aircraft carriers, nuclear-powered submarines and hundreds of other warships.
During the drills, which started on Tuesday, Taiwan’s air force also demonstrated for reporters its Patriot ground-to-air missiles and Ching-kuo Indigenous Defence Fighters.
Taiwan rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims and says only the island’s people can decide their future.
(Reporting by Ann Wang; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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