The military exercise, officials said, was a simulated type of Chinese attack on Taiwan, lifting the veil on how Taipei's military would respond to its an attack by its estranged neighbor, despite improving ties.
The drill simulated massive air raids on Taiwan's major air bases, testing the island's ability to recover quickly from such a shock.
The war game exercise was designed, "to test our ability to repair runways as soon as possible so that fighter jets can takeoff should the air base be attacks," air force spokesman Lt. Gen. Pan Kung-hsiao told local media.
This is a clear signal to China that they can't count on knocking the Taiwanese air force out of the fight in the opening hour of a war.
And it is a signal to America that Taiwan will buy the time we need to intervene.
UPDATE: Let me clarify that I have no way of knowing if the Taiwanese can actually keep their airfields open in war. I'm just saying that the Taiwanese are signalling that they can. At least the Taiwanese recognize this is a capability they need to survive the onslaught. I look forward to reading the next Pentagon report on Chinese military power (though now that I think about it, it is overdue, I believe).
