TAIPEI: Taiwan kicked off a two-day missile live-firing test on Monday ahead of its largest annual military exercises as the East Asian island ramps up preparations against an increasingly assertive China.
Taiwan's 23 million people live under constant threat of invasion by Beijing, which views the self-ruled democratic island as part of its territory to be seized one day.The missile firings in southern Pingtung county come as relations between Taipei and Beijing are increasingly strained, with China conducting two major military exercises around the island in the past year.The latest was in April, when Beijing simulated targeted strikes on Taiwan and encirclement of the island.
Monday and Tuesday's missile tests come against the backdrop of aerial and naval maneuvers by Beijing in and around the Taiwan Strait, a 180-kilometer-wide passage between the island and mainland China.Last month, eight Chinese warplanes approached Taiwan's contiguous zone, or the band of sea within 24 nautical miles of its coast.In May, China's Shandong aircraft carrier group sailed through the Taiwan Strait in a rare voyage.Relations have not fared better in the diplomatic sphere.
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