Taiwan’s air force simulates rescue operations in water
A member of the Taiwanese air force takes part in survival training at a base in Kaohsiung on Wednesday.
Under strobing lights, a vessel carrying Taiwanese air force lieutenants plunged into an indoor pool with roiling water on Wednesday — simulating adverse weather conditions to train military personnel on survival skills in the event of a crash.
Self-ruled Taiwan faces increasing pressures from China — which claims the island as its territory and has not ruled out using force to bring it under Beijing’s control.
Wednesday’s exercises focusing on underwater escape and parachute rescue were held at a training centre in the southern city of Kaohsiung.
As the simulator vessel spun upside down under the water, trainees dressed in orange overalls escaped from the cabin, holding their breath as they shimmied out one-by-one.
“The hardest part... I would say is the multicrew cabin submerged under the water and all the members have to evacuate one by one through the only exit,” said Lieutenant Shen Chia-xiang.
“I have to stay calm and save my oxygen” he said. The crew also learned to disentangle themselves from parachute ropes after they landed in the water. Lieutenant Ceng Yu-ting said the parachute escape training programme made her the most nervous. “When I was out there at the open water, seeing my teammates dragged out of the parachute, I did feel nervous watching it.”
On a near-daily basis, Beijing ¡ies warplanes and sends naval vessels around Taiwan — a tactic Taipei calls “grey-zone harassment”.
The island is a little over a month out from the presidential inauguration of Lai Ching-te, Taiwan’s current Vice President who China has called a “dangerous separatist”.