Taiwan boosting defenses along the east coast

The army’s Hualien Defense Command is taking measures to bolster defenses along the east coast of Taiwan proper amid a growing threat from China, a source said on Sunday. The command is to conduct six days of live-fire exercises this month at the mouth of Taimali River in Taitung, using tanks, mortars and machine guns to help troops familiarize themselves with combat conditions and improve coastal-defense capabilities, the source said.

“With the Chinese military fielding an expanding fleet of amphibious landing vessels, threats to Taiwan’s east coast have increased significantly, prompting the armed forces to accelerate deployments across the region,” they said.

Concerns have been raised over the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) efforts to strengthen its amphibious assault capability, including Type-075 amphibious assault ships, Type-071 dock landing ships and the new Type-076 amphibious assault ship Sichuan now undergoing tests — a large platform believed to be capable of operating helicopters, drones and air-cushion landing craft, they said.

Read more