Express.co.uk By OLIVER TRAPNELL
TAIWAN has announced they will be holding live-fire drills in the South China Sea on March 9 amid rising tensions in the region.
The live-fire exercises are to be held on the Taiwanese controlled Pratas Island according to Taiwanâs Coast Guard Administration (CGA). A notice issued by the CGA, stated that a similar live-fire drill was also carried out on Monday.
The notice warned both naval vessels and aircraft of the drill before it began at 8am.
Neither Taiwanâs military, nor the CGA have confirmed whether live ammunition was fired during Mondayâs exercises.
Both rounds of drills have an expected danger zone of up to eight nautical miles from the island and a maximum projectile altitude of 12,000 feet.
These live-fire exercises are part of the CGAâs scheduled drills for the first quarter of 2021.
In recent months, Chinese military aircraft have encroached on the airspace near the Pratas Islands on a nearly daily basis.
The southwest part of Taiwanâs Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) has seen an especially large increase in activity.
Pratas Island is the largest of the South China Sea islands at 1.7 miles long and lies approximately 170 nautical miles South-east of Hong Kong.
The island is only one of two islands currently controlled by Taiwan in the South China Sea.
Although the island is administered by Taiwan, China has claimed the island as part of its own Guangdong Province.
Last year, Taiwan carried out similar live-fire exercises in the city of Taichung.
The drills last year saw the firing of a live torpedo, the first one to be fired since 2007.
It was announced last year by Taiwanâs Ministry of National Defence that marines would be temporarily posted on the Pratas Islands, although no reports were revealed about the number or location of the troops.
CGA personnel trained by Taiwanâs Marine Corps are currently manned on both Taiwanese controlled islands in the South China Sea.
