The army on Dec. 28 is to conduct a live-fire small arms drill at Tainan’s Sishu (喜樹) beach, in a rare ammunition drill at the popular recreational area, according to a map released by the Fisheries Agency on Tuesday.
The drills to be held from 8am to 10am are part of the military’s addition of more than a dozen “red beaches,” or potential landing sites for the Chinese military.
In its three-color system, red denotes sites where large-scale landings are possible, while on yellow beaches a typical landing would be difficult, and blue beaches would be difficult to conduct a landing.
Photo: CNA
The Sishu beach in South District (南區) is often used as a training site for troops, but live-fire exercises are exceedingly rare, as the area is popular with residents and visitors.
Public records show that the army conducted anti-landing drills with more than 700 soldiers at the beach during the 28th Han Kuang exercises in 2012, but no live ammunition was used.
Many exercises have been held at Sishu since the 35th edition in 2019, at which military personnel have practiced erecting barriers and applying smoke screens.
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