Taiwan's navy is demonstrating how it uses its domestically made ships to train service members to protect the country's maritime borders.
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00:00I'm here in Kaohsiung, which is home to Taiwan's largest naval base, for the final
00:04parts of military exercises ahead of the Lunar New Year.
00:08The Navy is letting us hop on aboard some of their ships to see how they're training
00:12to protect the country's maritime borders.
00:16Military personnel here are conducting a simulation of how they would respond to a suspicious
00:20vessel heading towards Taiwan in an attempt to breach the country's maritime border.
00:26What they're doing is dispatching teams of two corvettes armed with anti-ship missiles
00:30in less than 30 minutes to practice real combat maneuvers.
00:44Also on display are rare underwater operations, where divers practice recovering equipment
00:49and fixing critical infrastructure to keep their ships at sea as long as possible.
00:57Last year, Taiwan reported the highest number of Chinese Coast Guard and naval ships operating
01:02around the country as China conducted three large-scale military exercises.
01:08That's why in recent years, Taiwan has invested heavily into its domestic shipbuilding industry
01:12to ease reliance on the U.S., which is Taiwan's largest provider of weapons.
01:18All the ships taking part in this drill have been made in Taiwan, with the newest vessel,
01:22the Dawu, commissioned and put into service just three months ago.
01:38With a range of maritime threats around Taiwan, the Navy says that the most important thing
01:43is to cooperate with other branches of the military to get a complete picture of what's
01:47happening around the country.
01:48This will be even more pertinent when there's an uptick in travel ahead of the Lunar New
01:52Year as many people go for their long holiday.
01:55Fu Hua Hong in Haimeokan in Kaohsiung for Taiwan Plus.