Chinese war games show ‘tanks on Taiwan streets’ as Taipei unveils its ‘aircraft carrier killer’
CHINA has rolled out its tanks to flex its military muscles as tensions with Taiwan reach boiling point.
The People's Liberation Army wheeled out their high-tech military might for a mock "war game" after Taipei unveiled its heavily armed combat ship dubbed the "aircraft carrier killer".
Tensions have escalated as China regards Taiwan as part of its territory and has long threatened to use force to bring it under its control.
In footage aired by China's state broadcaster CCTV last week, a simulated street battle between Type 96A main battle tanks and Type 04 infantry fighting vehicles in Hangzhou was shown.
According to mainland Chinese state television reporting on the mock combat exercise, the PLA would deploy two of its main battle tanks in a possible war against Taiwan.
PLA units of the 72nd Group Army took part in the street combat exercise, which attempted to simulate urban conditions China's invading forces may encounter following a successful landing on Taiwan.
Type 96A main tanks and ZBD-04 infantry fighting vehicles took part in the war game.
The vehicles overcame landmines and other obstacles to seize in town in less than three hours.
According to the CCTV report, the drill showed a "resounding victory".
Meanwhile, Taipei has unveiled its Ta Chiang warship
Dubbed the "aircraft carrier killer", it is armed with subsonic and supersonic guided missiles, and is designed for combat with Chinese mainland warships.
It is said the ship - loaded with anti-aircraft missiles, two machine guns and two torpedo tubes - will be delivered to the island's next next July.
Song Zhingping, a Chinese mainland military expert and TV commentator, told the its planned tactic against the PLA will not work.
He said: "Taiwan's military could attempt to use the ship to launch missiles against PLA ships from outside of the PLA's air defense area, but the PLA may not use warships against the island's corvettes in the first place, but instead use aircraft to destroy them, so the Tuo Chiang-class corvette will not be able to become an 'aircraft carrier killer'.
"With a large number of vessel-borne fighter jets, the PLA aircraft carriers have effective long-range strike capabilities, and the Tuo Chiang-class corvettes will have zero possibility of survival."
In 1949, former Chinese president Chiang Kai-shek and his supporters fled to the island following the Chinese Communist Party victory in the country's civil war.
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The island of 25 million people has since developed its own democratic identity and party of current President Tsai Ing-wen supports moves towards full independence – which Beijing says will trigger war.
The Chinese government regards Taiwan as a breakaway province which it will retake control of.
The ongoing dispute has left relations unravelled, with an ongoing possibility of a violent flare up.
