Taiwan's Ministry of Defense announced the cancellation of some military exercises scheduled for Wednesday as part of the annual Han Kuang exercises, due to the threat of Typhoon Doksuri, which is approaching the island with winds of more than 170 kilometers per hour.

Among the suspended exercises is the deployment of fighter jets at the civilian Fengnian airport in the eastern county of Taitung, which was to be used as an alternate mock base in the event of an enemy attack, the island's news agency CNA reported on Monday.

Defense Ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang explained that the decision was made for security reasons as the typhoon could affect the operation, which was part of the live-fire component of the annual Han Kuang exercises.

This is the first time that the Taiwanese Army has canceled this type of air operations due to a typhoon since the Han Kuang maneuvers began in 1984.

In addition, the Ministry of Defense indicated that other naval and land exercises could be affected by bad weather, such as the amphibious landing drill on a beach in the Pali district, north of Taipei, or the takeoff and landing of AH-64E and UH-60M helicopters, the local Liberty Times reported.

The Han Kuang maneuvers, which began on Monday, are intended to assess Taiwan's defensive capacity against a possible invasion from China.

The Defense portfolio declared this Sunday that it will “strengthen” its “resilience in the skies, in the waves and on land” and warned that it is “fully prepared” to “stand firm against everything and protect the nation.”

Taiwan's National Meteorological Center warned on Tuesday that Typhoon Doksuri will cause heavy rain and strong winds in the eastern part of the island on Wednesday, by which day, however, “it will already have weakened.”

For its part, the Philippine Department of Meteorology indicated Tuesday that Typhoon Doksuri increased its intensity to the maximum level, 5 out of 5 and classified as a super typhoon, as it approaches the north of the archipelago, located south of Taiwan.