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Taiwan to hold large-scale military drills aimed at deterring China

WATCH ABOVE: Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen called on Saturday for international support to defend the self-ruled island's democracy and way of life in the face of renewed threats from China – Jan 5, 2019

Taiwan’s military on Wednesday announced a series of newly designed large-scale military drills for this year aimed at countering China’s renewed threat to use force to gain control over the island.

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While Taiwan’s armed forces regularly hold such exercises, this year’s drills are “being drafted based on newly adopted tactics for defending against a possible Chinese invasion,” the official Central News Agency quoted Defense Ministry planning chief Maj. Gen. Yeh Kuo-hui as saying.

China claims sovereignty over the self-governing island democracy, which split from the mainland amid civil war in 1949.

WATCH BELOW: Analyst says Taiwan might be the geopolitical ‘sleeper issue’ of 2019

Chinese President Xi Jinping renewed the threat of force in his Jan. 2 message to the island, saying China reserved that right if necessary to counter interference by external forces and what he called an extremely small number of Taiwanese separatists.

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Although Xi didn’t mention the U.S. by name, Washington is a key supplier of weaponry to the island and is legally bound to respond to threats against Taiwan.

WATCH BELOW: China’s Xi threatens Taiwan with force but also seeks peaceful ‘reunification’

With its 3 million-member armed forces and the world’s second largest defence budget of $173 billion, China has the overwhelming military edge over Taiwan. Xi has been ratcheting up the military threat to put pressure on independence-leaning Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.

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Tsai responded to Xi’s speech by rejecting demands for unification between the sides, saying, “China must face the fact of the existence of Taiwan.”

WATCH BELOW: Taiwan’s president defiant after Xi’s speech

Taiwan wields a much smaller by technologically sophisticated force that would be relied on to hold off a Chinese assault until outside help arrives.

In recent years, Taiwan’s strategy has evolved from defeating a Chinese landing force to repelling an invasion on sea and in the air.

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