JIADONG, Taiwan (AP) – Four Taiwanese military fighter jets landed on a road in the middle of pineapple crops on Wednesday, refueled and took off shortly afterwards, in the sight of President Tsai Ing-wen and the media. The maneuver was part of a five-day military exercise designed to prepare the island’s forces for a possible attack by China, which claims Taiwan as part of its own territory.
The Taiwanese exercise Han Guang was designed with the hypothesis of a Chinese attack on the main airfields of the island, which would force the use of other roads, such as roads, in order to defend themselves.
War is not imminent, but as China has become increasingly assertive in the seas of East and South China, Taiwan is intensifying its defense. Across the region, the United States and its allies are deepening military cooperation and developing strategies to achieve an effective response.
China flies military planes to Taiwan on a regular basis, in an apparent attempt to warn and intimidate the island’s air force. Last month, Chinese fighter jets, anti-submarine aircraft and warships conducted joint assault drills near Taiwan. Beijing claimed that the exercise was necessary to safeguard its sovereignty.
U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday a meeting next week with key regional players that make up the so-called “Quad” (India, Australia and Japan, along with the United States) to hold in-person talks that , according to the White House, seek to show the American commitment to “promote a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
Japan is an ally of the United States and in its ground it lodges the Seventh Fleet of the American Navy. Tokyo has acted cautiously for a long time with regard to China, which is a major trading partner, but has recently become less reserved in the face of growing military activity in Beijing and widespread territorial claims in the western Pacific, including a group of islands near Taiwan that Japan controls.
___
Wu reported from Taipei and Yamaguchi from Tokyo. The Associated Press researcher Yu Bing in Beijing contributed to this office.