By Aleksander Solum and Ann Wang
HUALIEN, Taiwan (Reuters) - Taiwanese F-16 fighters roared into the night sky on Wednesday in a show of force in front of the media, demonstrating the military's determination to defend the democratically governed island in the face of days of Chinese war games.
China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, has been carrying out military exercises around the island after a visit earlier this month by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was followed by five U.S. lawmakers on Sunday and Monday.
Pelosi's visit infuriated China, which responded with test launches of ballistic missiles over Taipei for the first time, and sending warships and fighter jets close to Taiwan, though the scale of the activities has now greatly reduced.
On a government-organised trip to the key Hualien air base on Taiwan's mountainous east coast, the first to a military facility since the Chinese exercises began, reporters watched ground crew demonstrate how they rapidly upload weapons onto F-16s, including Boeing Co's Harpoon anti-ship missiles.
Defence ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang told reporters at the base that while they condemned China's actions, this was a good chance for Taiwan's forces to hone their skills.
"We will seize this opportunity to test all the training we normally do, and through this improve our current methods and raise our combat effectiveness," he said.
"The Republic of China's forces are confident, capable, and determined to defend the safety of the Republic of China," Sun added, using Taiwan's formal name.
While Taiwanese fighters, including Hualien's F-16s, have been repeatedly scrambling since early this month, the ministry has stressed Taiwan's "calm" response and there have been no clashes.
"I won't say there's a lot of change but our frequency to scramble is higher and the tension is higher," said F-16 pilot Django Lin.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has said they are not seeking to provoke or escalate tensions.
The Hualien base, which has hangers cut out of the side of a mountain, has two pilots on duty at any one time sitting in their flight suits and able to be in the air within six minutes.
The fighters on display were the Lockheed Martin Corp F-16V, Taiwan's most up-to-date combat jet.
Taiwan has been converting 141 F-16A/B jets into the F-16V type, and has additionally ordered 66 new F-16Vs, which have new avionics, weapons and radar systems to better face down the Chinese air force, including its J-20 stealth fighters.
The F-16Vs can also carry Raytheon Technologies Corp's advanced AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles.
Taiwan's government says that as the People's Republic of China has never ruled the island, it has no right to claim it or decide its future, which can only be set by Taiwan's people.
(Reporting by Aleksander Solum and Ann Wang; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
You can do anything in Las Vegas (more or less) but some employees want to end one vice that has long been associated with casinos.
A former teacher's assistant in Ohio has pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct after sleeping with a student and begging the student not tell anyone.
Photo Illustration by Erin O'Flynn/The Daily Beast/GettyA new subvariant of the novel-coronavirus called XBB dramatically announced itself earlier this week, in Singapore. New COVID-19 cases more than doubled in a day, from 4,700 on Monday to 11,700 on Tuesday—and XBB is almost certainly why. The same subvariant just appeared in Hong Kong, too.A highly mutated descendant of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that drove a record wave of infections starting around a year ago, XBB is in ma
While on the road, I found out the worst sex positions in a vehicle and how to have a successful romantic relationship in a tiny-living environment.
Will Wilkerson submitted a whistleblower complaint to the Securities and Exchange Commission in August regarding the company.
Donna D'Errico posted an Instagram photo of her toned abs and legs in lingerie. The 'Baywatch' alum follows a vegan diet and claps back at ageist comments.
Many members of the royal family like Catherine, Princess of Wales and Prince Harry don't go by their given first names.
Deontay Wilder knocked out Robert Helenius with a single, devastating right hand in his come back fight Saturday in Brooklyn, New York.
Chances are good you're ahead of 25% of your peers.
Robert Kraft and Dana Blumberg reportedly began dating in 2019, before getting engaged in March 2022
Trump Media co-founder Andy Litinsky said Trump threatened to "blow up the company," according to an email obtained by The Washington Post.
The Maryland Democrat gave no credence to Donald Trump's reply to a subpoena from the House committee probing the 2021 insurrection.
VALENTYNA ROMANENKO - SUNDAY, 16 OCTOBER 2022, 10:16 The Security Service of Ukraine [SSU] has received evidence of how the Russian barrier troops work; it appears that drafted convicts are shot by conscripted rookies, and those, in turn, are shot by regular troops.
Camille Kostek, Rob Gronkowski's longtime girlfriend, shared her opinion on Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen’s while saying that she "loves" the both of them.
The parent companies of Mariano's and Jewel are merging to the tune of about $25 billion. CBS 2's Lauren Victory dug into what this merger might mean for your weekly trip to the store.
What will the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Top 25 Poll potentially be? It’s our predicted guess on the college football rankings after Week 7
Bradley, who hadn't visited the winner's circle since the 2018 BMW Championship, notched his fifth PGA Tour title.
The "Dancing With the Stars" alum posed in a yellow bikini to share her thoughts on ageism.
Paul Walker’s daughter Meadow Walker has been killing it in the modeling world the past few years, and this new selfie shows she knows how to make sure all eyes are on her. On Oct 14, Meadow uploaded a rare mirror selfie to her Instagram with the simple caption, “sleepy.” You can see the photo […]
The use of the prop drew a rebuke from the moderator at the Senate rivals' debate: “You’re very well aware of the rules, aren’t you?”