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| Taiwan army Conducts Military Exercises |
Taipei - Taiwan's military on Tuesday began military drills after China did the same for days last week. Taipei's military maneuvers began with artillery live fire drills simulating the island's defense against enemy attacks.
Lou Woei-jye, spokesman for the Taiwanese Army's 8th Corps, confirmed that drills had begun in the southern Pingtung area shortly after 0040 GMT by firing flares and artillery against targets.
China launched its biggest war games around Taiwan last week in angry response to a visit by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan.
Taiwan has been self-governing since 1949 or after China's civil war ended. However, Beijing still considers the island an inseparable part of China and has threatened to use military force to subdue it.
Since forming its own government, Taiwan has lived under constant threat of invasion from China. According to the Taiwanese military, quoted by AFP, its combat drills will last until next Thursday, including the deployment of hundreds of troops and about 40 howitzers.
Lou said these combat drills were scheduled and were not intended as a response to China's war games. The island regularly hosts military exercises simulating a Chinese invasion and last month practiced repelling attacks from the sea in "joint interception operations" as part of its largest annual drill.