HONG KONG, August 11. /TASS/. Taiwan’s armed forces on Thursday wrapped up two-day military exercises involving live artillery fire in the south of the island, a representative of Taiwan’s Eighth Army Corps said.

The first phase of the drill took place on Tuesday, and the second on Thursday. The military held a firing practice from 155 mm self-propelled howitzers and 120 mm mortars, in a simulation of defending from an enemy attack.

The drill was routine and had been planned before the Chinese armed forces maneuvers taking place in recent days.

The Taiwanese army plans to hold more of the previously scheduled exercises on September 5, deploying snipers, special forces, infantry, armored vehicles and mortars. Combat helicopters Super Cobra and Apache will also participate.

China’s People’s Liberation Army has been holding exercises of its own, which took place around Taiwan, since August 4. They started the day after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan that drew condemnation from China.

Taiwan has been governed by its local administration since 1949 when the Kuomintang’s remaining forces headed by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) were defeated in the Chinese Civil War and took refuge on the island. Taiwan has preserved the flag and several other symbols of the Republic of China that had existed before the Communists took over the mainland. Beijing regards the island as one of its provinces, a stance supported by most other countries including Russia.