Taiwan troops stage drill aimed at repelling attack from China

A soldier holds a Taiwan national flag during a military exercise in Hsinchu County, northern Taiwan (Chiang Ying-ying/AP)

Taiwanese troops using tanks, mortars and small arms staged a drill aimed at repelling an attack from China, which has increased its threats to reclaim the island and its own displays of military might.

“No matter what is happening around the Taiwan Strait, our determination to guard our homeland will never change,” said Major General Chen Chong-ji said, director of the department of political warfare, about the exercise at Hukou Army Base south of the capital Taipei.