Asia-Pacific

Taiwan to hold drill on disputed island

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Taiwan to hold live-fire drill on disputed island in South China Sea

Taiwan has announced plans to conduct a live-fire drill next month on the biggest island in a group of disputed territories in the South China Sea.

Taiwan’s coastguard said on Friday that a drill would be staged on Taiping Island between April 9 and 11. The island is in the group of islands known as Spratlys, which is in whole or part claimed by Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, China, Brunei and the Philippines.

The drill would involve 40mm artillery and 120mm mortars together with other weaponry, which were shipped to the island last year in a bid to strengthen Taiwan’s defense capability, the coastguard also said.

Taiwan has been governing Taiping and has a small garrison on the island.

The Vietnamese government expressed outrage after Taiwan sent longer-range artillery and mortars to the island last year.

The Spratlys consist of over 100 islets, reefs and atolls that cover a vast area but have a land mass of about five square kilometers.

The resource-rich South China Sea is home to a crucial shipping lane and a potential military flashpoint. However, it has been the subject to a series of diplomatic disputes between the countries.

The claimants, except Brunei, have their own military bases on the archipelago.

Taiwan also held a five-day military drill on the Taiping Island last September, sparking criticism from neighboring countries that believed the drill violated regional peace.

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