Taiwan’s military is on high alert after Chinese forces passed close to the country. These maneuvers come just after new drills were announced by Taipei, adding unwelcome realism to exercises meant to test the country’s defenses.
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00:00Taiwan's navy stares down a Chinese destroyer operating around Taiwan.
00:06It was one of nine Chinese ships patrolling the region's waters, just hours after Taiwan
00:11started military drills to test its capabilities on Monday.
00:15China's navy regularly operates in these waters, but Taiwan's defense minister says that this
00:20time was different.
00:22The military drills have been held once a week.
00:29Yesterday was a special day because it was held in the morning.
00:34But the Chinese ships didn't leave the waters.
00:38In the afternoon, the Chinese air force entered the waters.
00:42Taiwan's defense ministry says a total of 59 Chinese military aircraft and drones were
00:47spotted operating around the country between Monday and Tuesday.
00:5043 of the aircraft flew closer and breached the country's air defense identification zone,
00:55or ADIZ.
00:56Taiwan's military deployed its own aircraft in response and released rare images of Chinese
01:02drones around the country.
01:03The spike in military activity on both sides is prompting debate between Taiwan's two biggest
01:08political parties, as tensions with China continue to boil.
01:18March and April is the peak of China's military exercises.
01:22It's like they like to do these things in August and September.
01:25China will always find a reason to do military exercises.
01:30Taiwan has been trying to boost its defensive capabilities and make sure that its armed
01:34forces are ready to react if one of these incursions turns into an actual attack.
01:39But with more and more Chinese ships and aircraft spotted around the country, some analysts
01:44say that Taiwan may need to reconsider how it's using its limited resources when reacting
01:49to these threats.
01:50Now, it's not surprising to see aircraft on all sides of the island every single day.
01:54I mean, again, that used to be a huge deal.
01:56They've succeeded in altering the status quo.
01:59The median line has been erased.
02:00They have a near permanent naval presence around the island.
02:02I do think that at some point, Taiwan does have to choose because of the budgetary limitations.
02:07Okay, are we going to spend our spare part budget on maintaining F-16s that are flying
02:12to respond to ADA's incursions, or are we going to spend them for practical training
02:15in Hong Kong?
02:16Taiwan's largest annual military drills, the Hong Kong exercises, are less than four months
02:20away.
02:21And with military hardware already deployed across the country, Taiwan is sticking to
02:25its plan and focusing on making sure its soldiers stay alert.
02:29Taiwan's rapid response exercises are meant to last until Friday and test how quickly
02:34the country can mobilize its military.
02:36But with China conducting its own exercises, these drills have become that much more urgent.
02:41Yi Sun-Chen and Jaime O'Connor in Taipei for Taiwan Plus.