Taiwan fires anti-tank missiles near China ahead of Trump-Xi talks

Taiwan on Wednesday launched U.S.-made Javelin anti-tank missiles during military drills in Kinmen, located about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Chinese city of Xiamen, ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned state visit to China, where he said he intends to discuss arms sales to Taipei with Chinese President Xi Jinping, News.Az reports, citing Anadolu.

The live-fire exercise simulated a Chinese amphibious invasion scenario, with Javelin missiles targeting mock enemy amphibious vehicles while tanks, armored vehicles and drones supported beach defense operations.

“I’m going to have that discussion with President Xi,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday when asked about U.S. military support for Taiwan.

“President Xi would like us not to, and I’ll have that discussion. That’s one of the many things I’ll be talking about,” Trump said.

According to The New York Times, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators has urged Trump to move forward with a delayed record $14 billion weapons package for Taiwan that has reportedly been stalled at the State Department for several months.

Taiwan’s Kinmen Defense Command described the FGM-148 Javelin missile system as an important asymmetric warfare weapon, highlighting its “fire-and-forget” capability, precision and rapid-response features, with an effective range of around 2,500 meters (8,202 feet).
The military training also included coordinated combat operations, fire suppression in key areas, main defensive zone combat exercises and limited objective attacks designed to address so-called gray-zone threats.

The exercise formed part of Taiwan’s regular quarterly Taiwu Exercise, following a similar drill held in March.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev