TAIPEI, June 21 (Reuters) – Taiwan’s military will this week hold a five-day combat readiness drill, the defence ministry said on Sunday, part of modernisation plans to shift the focus of training from set piece events to more realistic exercises simulating war.
Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory despite the objections of the government in Taipei, says China’s armed forces routinely operate in the skies and seas around the island in an effort to pressure Taiwan to accept Chinese sovereignty.
Taiwan’s military has begun basing some of its drills on a scenario where China suddenly turns one of its regular exercises around the island into an actual attack.
In a statement, the defence ministry said the “Immediate Combat Readiness Exercise” would start on Monday and run until Friday, describing it as part of the armed forces’ annual planned joint operations training.
“The main objective is to train units at all levels to become familiar with combat practices and the battlefield environment during the readiness deployment phase, and to strengthen rapid peacetime-to-wartime transition and priority deployment actions,” the ministry said.
The exercise will be conducted with “actual troops, on actual terrain, in real time, using actual equipment, and through actual implementation”, it added.
It will hone command mechanisms at all levels and the troops’ combat-oriented capabilities, with an emphasis on improving joint operations command and control, logistical sustainment, and battlefield preparation, the ministry said.
The announcement came on the same day the ministry said China staged another “combat readiness patrol” near Taiwan.
The ministry said China sent 21 aircraft, including J-16 fighters, KJ-500 airborne early warning and control aircraft, and Y-20 aerial refuelling aircraft.
Of those aircraft, 19 entered the airspace to Taiwan’s southwest and into the Western Pacific to conduct “long-distance training over open seas”, it added.
Calls to China’s defence ministry seeking comment were not answered outside of office hours on Sunday.
Taiwan regularly holds military drills, including earlier this month when it fired its new U.S.-made HIMARS rocket system, which is widely used by Ukraine, into the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan’s main annual Han Kuang war games are expected to take place in August.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
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