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TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan will test-fire a two-day live-fire missile on Monday, ahead of its biggest annual military exercise, as the island ramps up its preparations against an increasingly assertive China.
Taiwan’s 23 million people live under constant threat of invasion by Beijing, which views the self-governing democracy as part of its territory to one day be seized.
the Rocket launch In the southern province of Pingtung it comes as relations between Taipei and Beijing are increasingly tense, with China holding major military exercises around the island in the past year.
The most recent was in April, when Beijing simulated targeted strikes on Taiwan and encircled the island. State media also reported that dozens of aircraft carried out an “air blockade”.
Those war games were in response to President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy earlier that month.
The missile tests on Monday and Tuesday come against the backdrop of air and naval maneuvers that Beijing has conducted in and around Taiwan Strait – A corridor 180 kilometers (122 miles wide) between the island and mainland China.
Last month, eight Chinese warplanes approached the bordering area of ​​Taiwan – or the sea strip within 24 nautical miles (44 kilometers) of its coast.
In May, China’s Shandong aircraft carrier group sailed through the Taiwan Strait on a rare voyage.
Relations did not improve in the diplomatic field. Since the election of Tsai – who rejects China’s claim to Taiwan – Beijing has refused to talk to its government.
Last week, Taiwan’s Immigration Administration announced that it had rejected requests by Chinese tourism officials to visit the island for an international travel fair in mid-July.
The immigration agency, citing “the general situation across the straits”, said there were doubts about the “necessity, urgency and indispensability” of the involvement of Chinese tourism officials. Only tourism operators from China have their visas approved.
Taiwan’s 23 million people live under constant threat of invasion by Beijing, which views the self-governing democracy as part of its territory to one day be seized.
the Rocket launch In the southern province of Pingtung it comes as relations between Taipei and Beijing are increasingly tense, with China holding major military exercises around the island in the past year.
The most recent was in April, when Beijing simulated targeted strikes on Taiwan and encircled the island. State media also reported that dozens of aircraft carried out an “air blockade”.
Those war games were in response to President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy earlier that month.
The missile tests on Monday and Tuesday come against the backdrop of air and naval maneuvers that Beijing has conducted in and around Taiwan Strait – A corridor 180 kilometers (122 miles wide) between the island and mainland China.
Last month, eight Chinese warplanes approached the bordering area of ​​Taiwan – or the sea strip within 24 nautical miles (44 kilometers) of its coast.
In May, China’s Shandong aircraft carrier group sailed through the Taiwan Strait on a rare voyage.
Relations did not improve in the diplomatic field. Since the election of Tsai – who rejects China’s claim to Taiwan – Beijing has refused to talk to its government.
Last week, Taiwan’s Immigration Administration announced that it had rejected requests by Chinese tourism officials to visit the island for an international travel fair in mid-July.
The immigration agency, citing “the general situation across the straits”, said there were doubts about the “necessity, urgency and indispensability” of the involvement of Chinese tourism officials. Only tourism operators from China have their visas approved.
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