Taiwan strengthens defense with American tanks in the middle of tensions in China

The Taiwanese president, Lai Ching-Te, supervised the military exercises of the island with live shooting exercises with Abrams M1A2T tanks of American manufacturing Thursday, one of the annual exercises aimed at refining his defenses against China.

Lai looked at four of the tanks pulled individually, in pairs and in a group in a test field south of Taipei on the second day of the 10 -day Han Kuang exercises – the longest in Taiwan. The tanks shot the movement and fixed positions, reaching stationary and mobile targets with 100%accuracy, according to the army.

Lai described this year’s exercises as “realistic large -scale combat exercises”.

“When our soldiers have greater strength, the nation, society and people are safer. Once our country is safe, the Indo-Pacific Region is more peaceful and stable,” the president told troops and journalists at the base of the county of Hsinchu.

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Taiwan has agreed to buy 108 tanks in the United States for $ 1.45 billion for a major upgrade of the island’s training practices, which now include F-16V jet fighters, Himars missile defenses and stealthy vehicles.

The president of Taiwan, Lai Ching-te, center, inspects live shooting training in the county of Hsinchu, Taiwan, Thursday July 10, 2025. (Photo / chiang ying-ying)

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China has threatened to use the force to put Taiwan under its control, harassing the island nation to the quasi-quotes with balloons and military ships in neighboring waters.

M1A2T Abrams The main combat tanks are prepared for military training in live shooting in the county of Hsinchu, Taiwan, Thursday July 10, 2025. (Photo / chiang ying-ying)

Beijing has ridiculed war exercises as a farce that will have no effect on its determination to conquer the island, whose population massively rejects unification with China.

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The United States is the largest supplier of defensive weapons imported from Taiwan and are bound by law to consider threats to the island a question of “major concern”, although it deliberately remains clear if it would deploy forces to counter a Chinese attack.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.