Taiwan Holds First Attack-Drone Drills Before Trump-Xi Summit — SkimNews
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- Taiwan held military drills on Friday involving missiles and drones ahead of the September 24 Trump-Xi summit, marking the first joint combat exercises using several types of attack drones.
- President Lai Ching-te said the drills reflected "the adaptation to modern warfare," with anti-air, anti-ship, and anti-landing missiles fired during exercises in southern Pingtung county.
- Trump postponed a planned USD 14 billion US arms package for Taiwan after his May summit with Xi, calling arms sales a "very good negotiating chip" with China.
- Beijing has pressed Trump to take a stronger stand against Taiwan's independence, with China claiming Taiwan as its own breakaway province and not ruling out the use of force to bring it under control.
- Taiwan's army will continue drills next week with newly purchased US-made HIMARS rocket systems and Stinger missile simulators as the island sustains preparations ahead of the Trump-Xi meeting.
Why it matters: Taiwan staged its first joint attack-drone exercise days before the Trump-Xi summit, even as Trump has already delayed a USD 14 billion arms package and openly called such sales a "very good negotiating chip" — leaving the island's modernization timetable exposed to US-China deal-making.
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