TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The military simulated an invasion by the People's Liberation Army, days after China's sole aircraft carrier completed its first circumnavigation of Taiwan.
The drill, which saw the 10th Army Corps and the Army Aviation Special Forces Command test their combat readiness, was staged in Taichung on Tuesday morning.
The simulation of a Chinese invasion comes at a time of heightened cross-strait tensions, following the completion of a two-stage circumnavigation of Taiwan by the Liaoning aircraft carrier and an accompanying fleet last Wednesday.
The military played out the possibility of China using the pretense of a naval drill to amass naval and airborne forces on the China's southeastern shore.
As part of the scenario, the PLA forces dispatched helicopters from its fleet to enter Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
To respond to the simulated attack, the R.O.C. Army mobilized its M109 self-propelled 155mm howitzers, M60A3 Patton battle tanks, Clouded Leopard eight-wheeled armored vehicles.
Army helicopters, including OH-58D scout helicopters, AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters, and UH-60M Black Hawk choppers, were also dispatched during the drill.
Skydivers from the Army Airborne Training Center — better known as Team Mighty Dragon (神龍小組) — also demonstrated their skills by landing precisely at designated sites.
Military sources told local media that it was a misunderstanding that the elite paratrooper unit was trained solely for entertainment purposes.
The paratroopers are trained to play a vanguard role during wartime and to engage in airborne combat, the source said.
The latest drill, opened to the media, was held ahead of six-day Lunar New Year holiday, set to run from Jan. 27 to Feb. 1.
The Liaoning completed its passage through the Taiwan Strait at 6:30 a.m. last Thursday. It previously sailed south in the Pacific off Taiwan's eastern coast on Dec. 26 before entering the South China Sea for a training mission earlier this month.
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