Taiwan - Live-Fire War Exercises

Just yesterday I posted about the Chinese being puckered by the nation of Saint Lucia because it recognized Taiwan. Imagine how puckered they are about Taiwan holding live-fire war exercises.

TAIPEI - Taiwan will stage a series of live-fire military exercises next week aimed at demonstrating how the island's armed forces would fight off an attack from arch rival China, the Defence Ministry said on Monday.

The drills, set to start on May 14, would include demonstrating fighting off waves of landing vessels, defending bases and airfields against airborne assaults and repelling a special forces attacks, the ministry said.

The military also planned to land fighter jets on a section of closed-off freeway, a ministry officer said, practising for the possibility that air bases were knocked out by enemy attacks forcing jets to refuel and re-equip elsewhere.

With a smokin' economy, the Chinese have been pumping up their military and I'd speculate that right after the 2008 elections, they'll seriously consider the option of invading Taiwan. Any foreign observer of the world geopolitical scene believes that the Americans are a bunch of wussies who won't have the will to protect Taiwan. Remember, they get their news from the mainstream media.

Of course, if the Democrats win the White House and retain Congress in 2008, they may be right.