Taiwan tests live-fire missile

TAIWAN NEWS SCREENSHOT

The missile test in southern Taiwan's Pingtung County comes amid closely watched relations between Taipei and Beijing, with China conducting two major military exercises around the island in the past year, according to AFP.

The exercise was conducted before the Han Kuang exercise entered its field phase, or live-fire exercise, from July 24 to 28. The first phase of the exercise was previously conducted on a computer system in May. This is often considered Taiwan's largest and most important annual exercise.

Taiwan's defense ministry said in April that the focus of the live-fire drills was to test the military's ability to preserve its forces in the event of a full-scale attack and conduct "sea interdiction" to counter efforts to blockade the island, according to CNA.

Beijing has recently been sending planes and warships to the Taiwan Strait, a 180-kilometer-wide stretch of water that separates the island from mainland China.

Last month, eight Chinese fighter jets approached Taiwan’s contiguous zone, the waters within 24 nautical miles of its coast. In May, China’s Shandong aircraft carrier strike group sailed through the Taiwan Strait, a rare move.

The Beijing government considers Taiwan part of its territory and does not rule out the use of force to unify the two sides of the strait.