The Taiwanese military showcased its surface-to-air missile forces in live-fire missile drills in the Taiwan Strait as China stepped up maritime patrols and military exercises near Taiwan and Japan.
“Not only is the training of our soldiers very solid but our weapon systems have also been verified as effective in the live-firing process,” Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang told reporters, adding that the interceptors “hit their targets smoothly.”
The publicity around the drills was a rare display for the defense ministry, which has not invited media to view the exercises “in 12 years,” according to the South China Morning Post. The demonstration coincided with multiple overtures to Taiwan’s key unofficial allies, from Japan and South Korea to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where Taiwanese officials applauded the adoption of a Democratic Party platform that includes a historic endorsement of the Six Assurances that former President Ronald Reagan’s administration offered Taiwan.
“Marking yet another explicit expression of staunch support for Taiwan in the Democratic Party platform, this was also the fir …