Taiwan plans its biggest war games in over a year, the defence ministry has said
TAIPEI — Taiwan plans its biggest war games in over a year, the defence ministry said Wednesday, amid simmering tensions over US arms sales to the island which China claims as its own.
The military exercises, codenamed "Han Kuang No 26", will take place in April and involve units from the army, the navy and the air force, a defence ministry official told AFP.
"Among the scenarios, we'll test what would happen if the enemy were to invade Taiwan and how we would seek to nip it in the bud," he said, on condition of anonymity.
He said special emphasis would be placed on "asymmetrical warfare", in which a small force seeks to use special advantages to overcome a larger opponent, but he declined to give specific details.
The announcement of the exercise comes shortly after renewed tension between China and the United States over a US decision to sell 6.4 billion dollars worth of arms to Taiwan.
The island last held similar military manoeuvres in December 2008, but only computerised "Han Kuang" war games were held last year.
Ties between Taiwan and China have improved markedly since President Ma Ying-jeou of the Beijing friendly Kuomintang came to power in 2008 on a platform of boosting trade links and allowing in more Chinese tourists.
But Beijing still refuses to renounce the use of force against the island which it has considered part of its territory awaiting reunification since the two sides split in 1949 at the end of a civil war.
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