Taiwan's Army Conducts Drills Ahead of Lunar New Year

Taiwan's military is conducting combat readiness exercises ahead of the Lunar New Year. TaiwanPlus look at how the army is training its troops.

Transcript

00:00For the next few days, Taiwan's military is giving us an inside look into how it's preparing

00:05for a potential conflict.

00:07These combat readiness exercises are designed to test individual units' combat readiness

00:12across the country.

00:17Every year, Taiwan's military puts on this public display, not just to show that they

00:21are capable, but also to assure the public that the military is still on guard during

00:25the long holiday.

00:29At the end of January, millions of people in Taiwan are expected to travel as they celebrate

00:33the new lunar year.

00:35But the military needs to make sure it's ready 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so the rest

00:41of Taiwan can rest easy.

00:44During the Chinese New Year, there are a lot of soldiers guarding us, and this time, I

00:49will be the strongest back up for my family.

00:51Please don't worry, as long as we are here, we will make sure everyone has a good year.

00:56The exercise on display here is a drill where a group of soldiers use tanks, armored vehicles

01:01and attack helicopters to push back an enemy force.

01:04In recent months, China, which claims Taiwan and threatens invasion to bring it under its

01:09control, has increased its military pressure on the country.

01:13The defending team on display here is one of the largest brigades stationed in Hsinchu.

01:17They are responsible for protecting northern Taiwan, which includes the capital of Taipei.

01:22We emphasize on the things and projects we will face on the battlefield, so that we can

01:29perform the drills in a systematic and cohesive way to achieve better training goals.

01:35Drills like these ahead of the lunar new year have been going around Taiwan for decades

01:39and are an important part of the country's military training.

01:42Soldiers taking part in the exercises here told me that it's all about muscle memory

01:46and making sure they can react as quickly as possible, so that if an attack does happen,

01:51they're ready for whatever comes their way.

01:53Fu Hua Hong and Haimiao Kan in Hsinchu for Taiwan Plus.