Taiwan Practices Red Beach Defense on East Coast

It’s been over 30 years since Taiwan conducted coastal defense drills on the eastern beach of Qixingtan, highlighting the growing threat from China.

Transcript

00:00 Taiwanese Marines preparing for a coastal defense exercise.

00:06 For the first time in 34 years, the military is carrying out these drills on this beach

00:11 on Taiwan's east coast.

00:13 Taiwan usually carries out these exercises on the west coast facing China.

00:17 But in recent years, Beijing has stepped up military activity in waters off the east of

00:22 Taiwan, operating more naval ships in that area.

00:25 Taiwanese soldiers are now trying to adapt and boost their combat readiness as the threat

00:30 evolves.

00:31 "The east coast is no longer a safe haven for us.

00:33 The east coast could become a battlefield for us.

00:37 So all our defenses need to be adjusted according to the current strength of the PLA."

00:45 Coastal defense is a huge part of Taiwan's overall defense strategy as it's an island

00:50 nation.

00:51 For decades, Taiwan has been preparing to defend against an all-out invasion from China,

00:56 which has vowed to take it by force if necessary.

00:59 As part of its defensive preparations, the military has identified roughly 20 beaches

01:04 that China would most likely try to land troops on to attack Taiwan.

01:09 These are known as "red beaches."

01:12 Now while the majority of these red beaches are on the west coast facing China, a few

01:15 of them are on the east coast.

01:18 Wednesday's drills on Xi Jinping Beach focus on repelling an attack.

01:22 It's a prime target because it's close to two major airfields.

01:26 Analysts say protection of these airports is vital for Taiwan to stay in the fight.

01:31 "Hualien and Taitung have two airports.

01:34 Once we land, we can control Hualien and Taitung.

01:37 This is a big help to our air force."

01:40 Taiwan conducts multiple coastal defense exercises every year across the country.

01:45 But the evolving threat from China shows that it must continue to adapt to the changing

01:49 situation, making sure it can repel an attack from any direction.

01:53 Chris Ma and Jaime O'Connor for Taiwan Plus.

01:55 [BLANK_AUDIO]