Taiwan’s military held an early morning air defense drill on Thursday to test its response and engagement procedures, ahead of a trip by President Lai Ching-te at the end of the week to the Pacific that will include U.S. stopovers.
Taiwan’s air force command said in a statement that made no mention of Lai’s overseas trip that for a two-hour period starting from 5 a.m. (2100 GMT Wednesday) aircraft, ships, and missile systems were involved in an “overall air defense battle plan exercise.”
The drill was to “strengthen the overall effectiveness of air defense operations and to test the response and engagement procedures of the air defense forces,” it added.
“In the face of changes in the enemy situation, we will continue to enhance defense resilience through various practical training to anticipate potential threats and challenges and ensure air defense security,” the command said.
The defense ministry said that it was a regular drill carried out quarterly.
China is likely to launch military drills in the coming days near Taiwan, using Lai’s upcoming trip to the Pacific and scheduled U.S. transit as a pretext, according to assessments by Taiwan and regional security officials.
China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its territory and says Lai is a “separatist.” Lai says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future and has repeatedly offered talks with Beijing that have been rebuffed.
