Taiwan fighter jets practise road landings in drill simulating response to China attack

President praises splendid combat skills' and resolution to defend airspace amid near-daily infringements of its airspace by China

Taiwanese fighter jets landed on a makeshift runway on a road on Wednesday as annual drills reached their peak, practising skills that would be needed in the event of an attack by China.

In exercises overseen by President Tsai Ing-wen, three aircraft - an F-16, French-made Mirage and a Ching-kuo Indigenous Defence Fighter plus an E-2 Hawk-Eye early warning aircraft - landed in rural southern Pingtung county on a road specially designed to be straight and flat for rapid conversion into a runway.