Taiwan Also Releases 'Missile Launch' Video... Countermeasure to China's Military Drills

The Taiwan Ministry of National Defense released a video of the Hsiung Feng-2 missile launch from the Anping ship.
[Photo by Taiwan Ministry of National Defense video capture]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] Taiwan reportedly fired missiles in response to recent military exercises conducted by the Chinese aircraft carrier strike group.

According to Liberty Times and others on the 29th, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense released videos on its website the previous day showing missile launches by the Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard in the eastern sea and airspace.

The footage included the latest Hsiung Feng-3 missiles from the mobile missile unit Hai Feng Battalion, the Air Force's Tian Gong-3 surface-to-air missiles, Hsiung Feng-2 missiles launched from two patrol ships, and the firing of MICA medium-range air-to-air missiles from the Mirage-2000, one of Taiwan's main fighter jets.

The hit rate on targets during this exercise reached 98%. Notably, the video revealed the launch of Hsiung Feng-2 missiles from the Anping (CG601), Taiwan Coast Guard's first stealth fast attack craft of the Tuo Chiang class, leading media to evaluate that the "transition mechanism between peacetime and wartime" was successfully implemented.

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense stated that this live missile firing mission was conducted under assumptions of air defense and joint maritime control scenarios, using realistic combat-like conditions and position relocation training methods. This demonstrates that the Taiwanese military maintains a high level of vigilance at all times, rigorously monitoring enemy situations and international affairs. They also emphasized that peace depends on strong national defense, adding that the Taiwanese military trains day and night to protect the sovereignty and liberal democracy of the homeland.

These actions by Taiwan appear to be a response to the recent offshore training of the Liaoning aircraft carrier strike group, China's first aircraft carrier, conducted in Taiwan's eastern sea area.

Earlier, on the 24th, the Chinese People's Liberation Army reported that the Liaoning carrier strike group had stayed for over 20 days since early this month in the western Pacific Ocean east of Taiwan and south of Japan, conducting more than 300 sorties involving fighter jets and helicopters.

At that time, military experts cited a statement from Japan's Ministry of Defense that the destroyer Zhengzhou, part of the Liaoning strike group, passed through waters near Okinawa and sailed into the East China Sea, saying, "All eight warships of the Liaoning carrier strike group, which sailed to the western Pacific for offshore training on the 1st of this month, have returned to the East China Sea, and all training appears to be completed."

Meanwhile, recent reports of seven Chinese military aircraft entering Taiwan's southwestern Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) have heightened military tensions between the two sides. According to Liberty Times, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense stated that in addition to one Su-30 fighter jet, six J-16 fighter jets entered Taiwan's ADIZ via the northern airspace of the Pratas Islands in the South China Sea, which Taiwan effectively controls.