Taipei, July 26 (CNA) The Republic of China (ROC) Air Force said Tuesday that it will hold a series of events, including the display of three painted fighter jets, on Aug. 12 to mark the 80th anniversary of Air Force Day and the Marco Polo Bridge Incident.
Teng En-lien, vice president of the R.O.C. Air Force Academy, said the events at the Academy in southern Taiwan's Kaohsiung City will include fighter jet stunts, performances by the Air Force's military band, and exhibitions of various types of military equipment and vehicles.
Three of the jets - a Ching-kuo indigenous defense fighter, an F-16, and a Mirage 2000 -- will be painted with images symbolizing dragons and the wind, the national flag of ROC and the number "80" to mark the 80th anniversary of Air Force Day on Aug. 14.
Aug. 14 was designated Air Force Day in memory of a battle with Imperial Japanese warplanes over Hangzhou's Jianqiao airbase on Aug. 14, 1937.
The events will also mark the 80th anniversary of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, which was seen as the beginning of Japan's full invasion of the ROC in 1937 that led to the eight-year Sino-Japanese War.
The anniversary events will be open to Taiwan citizens and their foreign spouses, the Air Force said. In cases where the foreign spouses have not yet gained Taiwan citizenship, they should be accompanied by their Taiwanese husbands or wives, it said.
