Taiwan conducts live-fire drills with US-made tanks as president looks on

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te oversaw the island’s military performing live-fire drills with U.S.-made Abrams M1A2T tanks Thursday, part of annual exercises aimed at sharpening its defenses against China.

Lai watched as four of the tanks fired individually, in pairs, and as a group at a testing ground south of Taipei on the second day of the 10-day Han Kuang exercises – Taiwan’s longest ever. The tanks fired on the move and from fixed positions, hitting both stationary and moving targets with 100% accuracy, according to the army.

Lai described this year's exercises as "large-scale, realistic combat drills."

"When our military has greater strength, the nation, society, and people will be safer. Once our country becomes secure, the Indo-Pacific region will be more peaceful and stable," the president told troops and reporters at the base in Hsinchu county.

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Taiwan agreed to buy 108 of the tanks from the U.S. for $1.45 billion in a major upgrade to the island’s arsenal training practices, which now include F-16V jet fighters, HIMARS missile defenses and stealthy unmanned vehicles.

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China has threatened to use force to bring Taiwan under its control, harassing the island on a near-daily basis with balloons and military ships in nearby waters.

Beijing has derided the war exercises as a farce that will have no effect on its determination to take over the island, whose population overwhelmingly rejects unification with China.

The U.S. is Taiwan's largest supplier of imported defensive weaponry and is bound by law to consider threats to the island a matter of "major concern," although it remains deliberately unclear whether it would deploy forces to counter a Chinese attack.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.