Taiwan’s military on Tuesday began a live ammunition artillery exercise simulating the island’s defense against an attack by China, following major military maneuvers in the vicinity by Beijing, noted on places an AFP journalist.
Lou Woei-jye, spokesman for Taiwan’s Eighth Army Corps, confirmed the drills began in southern Pingtung County shortly after 0040 GMT with flares and artillery fire.
The exercise will end around 0130 GMT, he added.
The drills, with a second scheduled for Thursday, will involve the deployment of several hundred troops and about 40 howitzers, the military said.
China launched its biggest military maneuvers around Taiwan last week in response to a visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the highest-ranking US official to visit the self-governing island in decades.
China considers Taiwan, with a population of around 23 million, to be one of its provinces, which it has yet to successfully reunify with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese Civil War (1949 ).
Mr Lou said on Monday that the Taiwanese drills were already scheduled and were not a response to the ongoing Chinese drills.
The island regularly holds military drills simulating a Chinese invasion and last month trained to repel attacks from the sea in a “joint interception operation”, as part of its biggest annual exercises.