Taiwan strengthens defense with U.S. tanks amid China tensions

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.

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, center, inspects a live-fire shooting training in Hsinchu County, Taiwan, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

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

M1A2T Abrams main battle tanks are prepared for a military live-fire shooting training in Hsinchu County, Taiwan, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

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.

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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.