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Taiwan cuts annual war games as Hurricane Gaemi barrels towards island

Taiwan cut its yearly Han Kuang war games on Tuesday as Hurricane Gaemi barrelled towards the island, and is expected to bring strong winds and downpour.

Gaemi, the very first tropical storm of the season to affect Taiwan, is expected to make landfall on the northeast coast between at some point on Wednesday night and the early hours of Thursday, according to the island's Central Weather condition Administration.

Presently categorised as a medium strength hurricane by Taiwan, it is then likely to move across the Taiwan Strait and then hit the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian in the early hours of Friday.

Taiwan's annual Han Kuang military drills occurring this week have been curtailed, including cancelling fighter jet workouts on the east coast, the defence ministry said.

The impact from the hurricane at present on the east coast is rather obvious, ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang informed press reporters at the Hualien air base. So we will change a few of the air and marine elements provided the tropical storm situation.

Gaemi passed by to the east of the Philippines but did not make landfall, though still brought heavy rain.

While typhoons can be extremely destructive, Taiwan also relies on them to renew tanks after the generally drier winter months, specifically for the southern part of the island.

(source: Reuters)