TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan will fight to the end if it attacks China, its foreign minister said on Wednesday, adding that the United States saw the danger that this could happen amid Chinese military pressure, including exercises of aircraft carriers, near the island.
Taiwan, claimed by China, has complained about Beijing’s repeated military activities in recent months, with the Chinese air force making raids almost daily in Taiwan’s air defense identification zone. On Monday, China said a group of aircraft carriers were exercising near the island.
“From my limited understanding of U.S. decision-makers watching the evolution of this region, they clearly see the danger of the possibility of China launching an attack on Taiwan,” Joseph Wu told reporters in his ministry.
“We are ready to defend ourselves without any questions and we will fight if we need to fight the war. And if we have to defend ourselves until the last day, we will defend ourselves until the last day. “
Washington, Taiwan’s largest international sponsor and arms supplier, has been pressuring Taipei to modernize its army so that it can become a “porcupine,” which is difficult for China to attack.
Wu said they were determined to improve their military capabilities and spend more on defense.
“Taiwan’s defense is our responsibility. We will try our best to improve our defense. “
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said in a separate event that they will hold eight days of computer-assisted war games this month of a Chinese attack on Taiwan, which will form the first phase of Taiwan’s largest annual war games. the Han Kuang exercises.
A second phase, including live fire drills, will take place in July.
“The drills are designed based on the harshest enemy threats, simulating all possible scenarios of an enemy invasion of Taiwan,” Major General Liu Yu-Ping told reporters.
The second phase of the Taiwan war games would involve mobilizing about 8,000 reservists to join drills of direct fire, anti-landing, and hospitals conducting drills to deal with the influx of heavy casualties.
Asked whether the de facto embassy in Washington, Taiwan’s American Institute, would send representatives to the exercises, Liu said the plan was “discussed,” but “will not be implemented,” and cited military sensitivity.
Taiwan has not said where the Chinese carrier group is currently located or whether it will go alongside the disputed South China Sea, where a U.S. carrier group currently operates.
Speaking to parliament, Deputy Defense Minister Chang Che-ping said the Chinese company’s moves were being closely monitored and described its exercises as routine.
Reports by Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee; Additional reports by Roger Tung; Edited by Simon Cameron-Moore