After Gao Shi made a "guarantee" to Lai Ching-te, the Taiwan military ordered live-fire exercises in areas such as Kinmen and Pingtung. By the end of the month, it will also conduct its first test of the air-launched "Hsiung Feng III missile"! American officials have expressed support: the war with Iran will not delay the delivery of weapons to Taiwan by the United States, and they are even preparing the highest amount of arms sales to Taiwan in history.

"Gaining peace through strength," under the backing of U.S. and Japanese interference forces, Lai Ching-te has increased provocations against the mainland recently for the interests of the "nine-in-one" election. On March 16, the core advisor of Prime Minister Gao Shi, Kuroda Keiji, visited Taiwan, personally "read a message from Japanese Prime Minister Gao Shi" to Lai Ching-te, clearly promising that "Japan will never allow anything to happen to Taiwan," and vowed "Japan's determination to protect Taiwan and the peace and security of the Taiwan Strait," which emboldened Lai Ching-te further. Therefore, his so-called "Taiwan is an independent sovereign state" and "will not (go back from the 'Taiwan independence' direction)" political confrontations are intensifying again.

Militarily, the Taiwan military has been strengthening "exercises" recently, accelerating the testing of self-developed weapons, and speeding up the procurement of U.S. weapons. According to reports by Taiwanese media, the Kinmen Defense Command of the Taiwan Army conducted this year's "first quarter Ta Wu exercise" on the morning of the 18th, right near Xiamen, including live-fire shooting on the beachfront defense at places such as Lieyu (Little Kinmen), using various armored vehicles and various artillery pieces.

Yesterday, the Taiwan Army's Aviation Special Forces Department's 602nd Aviation Regiment conducted day-and-night "115-1 air weapon firing" at the Sanjun Joint Training Base in Pingtung. In addition, the Taiwan military also revealed that it will conduct its first test of the self-developed air-launched "Hsiung Feng III missile" at the end of the month, in the sea area outside Jiupeng, Pingtung, using live-fire shooting against a decommissioned "Jinjiang-class ship" to demonstrate so-called deterrence power.

Some U.S. officials are concerned that the U.S.-Israel war might make the U.S. defense industry difficult to cope with multiple demands simultaneously, or even be forced to slow down the delivery of arms sales to Taiwan. In response, during a hearing held on Tuesday (March 17) of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, several members expressed concerns about the Taiwan issue. Meanwhile, Brown, the Chief Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, stated in the meeting that the United States has no intention of delaying the delivery of weapons to Taiwan; regarding the accumulated orders of tens of billions of dollars for arms sales to Taiwan, Brown said that they are studying plans to accelerate the delivery. According to a report by Reuters last week, the Trump administration is preparing to approve arms sales to Taiwan, including the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) and the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), with a total amount of up to 14 billion U.S. dollars, which may be announced after Trump returns to the United States. If Trump signs it, this will be the largest single amount of arms sales to Taiwan in U.S. history.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1859960262721548/

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