Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has watched live-fire drills with new U.S.-made Abrams M1A2T tanks during annual defense exercises.

Taiwan conducted live-fire exercises with U.S.-made tanks as President Lai Ching-te watched, amid tensions with China over the island's sovereignty.

Amped-up drills and new U.S. tanks have added bite to President Lai Ching-te’s Taiwan-is-a-country lecture tour.

Four Abrams tanks were shown manoeuvring across a mud-choked army training ground in Hsinchu county, firing at moving and static targets

Taiwan included its first batch of 38 U.S.-purchased M1A2T Abrams tanks in a live-fire exercise at Hsinchu military base on Thursday, as it launched its annual military exercises intended to guard against Chinese threats.

Taiwan launched its largest ever military drills on Wednesday, starting with simulated attacks on its command systems and infrastructure ahead of a Chinese invasion, senior defence officials said.

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The US should withdraw all military personnel from Taiwan, the Washington D.C.-based think tank Defense Priorities said in a report published on Wednesday. If the training is necessary, it can be provided in the US, the report said. The think tank claimed that Taiwan assumes the US would intervene if China attacked.