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Taiwan holds live-fire exercise

ROC Central News Agency

2012/06/07 16:40:36

Kaohsiung, June 7 (CNA) Taiwan held a live-fire joint-forces exercise Thursday in the southern county of Pingtung, one of the military's regular practices to test the country's defense capabilities.

President Ma Ying-jeou watched the 43-minute drill held at a military training base in Pingtung, which included the shelling of machine gun and rifle positions, as well as the launch of precision anti-tank missiles.

The exercise involved 935 military personnel. Led by the Army, it also used members of the Air Force and Navy in the drill to simulate a defense of the country in a war scenario.

Participating weapons included an OH-58D reconnaissance helicopter, AH-1W attack helicopters, F-16A/B jet fighters, a Knox-class frigate, Javelin anti-tank missiles and several tanks.

The results of the exercise were "admirable," Ma said in a 10-minute talk shortly after the completion of the exercise.

Col. Lee Ding-zhung also gave the thumbs-up to his armored brigade, the main unit in the drill, for successfully conducting the shelling of gun positions and the firing of missiles at targets.

Their performance was "highly recognized," Lee said.

Meanwhile, the president also took the opportunity to reaffirm his commitment to national defense and Taiwan's three-prong defense strategy.

Taiwan's three defense lines include the institutionalizing of Taiwan-China rapprochement, aligning national defense and diplomacy, and contributing to the international community, he added.

"We'll also continue to purchase foreign weapons that we cannot make ourselves over the next four years," said Ma, who was inaugurated into a second term May 20.

Participating military personnel moved into the training base in early May and stayed there for five weeks to prepare for the exercise.

Ma's inspection tour of the exercise came after the annual Han Kuang series of military exercises, Taiwan's largest war games, which took place April 16-20.

At that time, Ma was under fire because he was absent at the start of the exercises and was thus accused of neglecting national defense by the opposition. He was on a 12-day visit to three of Taiwan's African allies at the time.

The president inspected a command center shortly after his return from Africa April 18 and also watched a military relocation on the final day of the exercises.

During Thursday's drill, Ma also defended the exclusion of live ammunition in the Han Kuang exercises, which was also slammed by the opposition.

Reiterating the Ministry of National Defense's previous remarks, Ma said the arrangement factored in regional safety and the inconvenience caused to residents in areas around the locations used for live-fire exercises.

Since 2008, the ministry has excluded live ammunition from the Han Kuang war games. Such drills, however, are staged in other exercises throughout the year, Ma said.

(By Elaine Hou)